Renegades Part 2
by SomethingCalledShips
Summary: A multi ship series where eight YouTubers find themselves thrust into a gladiatorial competition of kill-or-be-killed confined to the state of California. Together, these eight YouTubers must face blood shed, tears, love, and war as they battle for their survival in the "program," The Renegade Program. Ships: H2OVanoss, Minicat, Terrornuckel, DaithiDeLui
1. Chapter 11 - One Way of The Other

Tyler stared at David. He, David and Evan were out back talking about what to tell the others they had to get rid of their girlfriends WITHOUT killing them. However, after what David just said, Tyler wasn't sure they could convince Jonathan, Alexa, Craig, Brock, Brian, AND Lui they could safely get them out and gone.

"They are pretty much Renegades, that's the problem," Evan was saying. They were all standing in a circle, hands in jean pockets thinking and completely lost. "There is no way we can send them to back empty handed."

"And they will be marked and enlisted if we do send them back," Tyler added. All nodded; this was tricky.

"We'd have to guarantee them a safe way out of the state. That's the only way we can have them be safe," Evan reasoned. "But Sydney won't go, I know that much. She wanted to move to LA for a long time. I'm surprised she didn't move in with Niki honestly."

Tyler shrugged. "She may of I don't know. Pretty much the only thing that was said between us at all so far was sex-stuff." Then Tyler paused, thinking. "Did you all get laid last night?"

They all nodded. Then groaned.

"Fucking perfect," Tyler hissed. "Now what are we gonna do?"

"We still have to send them away," David said, looking between him and Evan. "There is no way we can promise them safety here. Mari already said the girls aren't feeling safe, and they hoped here they would be."

"That's gonna mean that we call in favors then. We have to tell someone whats really going on and get them to help us," Evan objected.

"Right. And the chance that the Renegade program will find out about it is totally likely. They sent the girls because they wanted to break us apart," Tyler added.

"Which is working," David retorted, looking at Evan who rolled his eyes but still lowered his head shamefully.

"Okay, so Renegades wants to end us, they send the girls. We figure out girls work for them, and we decided to get rid of them. How do we get rid of them?" Tyler drew the attention back to the topic in hand. He was already annoyed at Evan, and he didn't need reminding how annoyed he really was. Being pissy and sarcastic would not help this situation.

They were all silent, thinking hard. Finally David looked up.

"Why not one of our friends outside of Renegades? Like Marcel or Luke?"

"Too obvious," Evan shot down. "They'll know something is up if we meet with them. I'm surprised they aren't part of the program honestly.

Tyler wasn't paying attention. He was thinking, going through a mental list of anyone he knew, coming up with multiple names and passing over them as too risky, not trustable, or for another reason. But finally, two stuck. He looked up, cutting them off with his question.

"Why not Mark?"

"Markiplier?" David asked. Evan starring at Tyler confused.

Tyler nodded. "Craig knows him, that's his only connection to us. If we ask him to get the girls out of here -" But Tyler was cut off.

"We can't trust him, Ty. We don't know them and what if they spill?"

"You got a better idea Owl Boy?" Tyler snapped. "We all know it was Sydney who drove the girls up here. Niki would have happily told those men to go fuck themselves because she never wants to see me again, and I'm sure Mari would have moved on without David. It's Sydney's fault they're here so shut up."

"I'm not the one who broke up the worst with my girlfriend, making Mari and Sydney come out and help her out!"

"Fuck off Evan. I loved Niki with all my heart, fuck, I still do man. This is fucking torture for me knowing that she's only here to do a dirty job; can you say the same about Sydney when you were two timing her?"

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

"You know goddamn well who I'm talking about you sick fucking bastard," Tyler growled getting in Evan's face.

"Guys stop it!" David pushed himself between them, separating them with his arms. He glared at both of them. "Tyler, stop being such an asshole. Evan…just stop," David sighed. Tyler knew he was being sensitive, but he'd seen the way Jonathan had reacted to the arrival of the girls. He'd seen Jonathan collapse after they all left and watched him break down and cry with Alexa holding him. Evan hadn't, but Tyler had. It was why Jonathan hadn't left his room all day, a conclusion everyone had reached, including probably Evan. The way he shrank back from Tyler in shame tipped him off.

"Go talk to Craig. I'll tell Alexa. Evan, take care of the girls; make sure they don't know whats going on."

The group split, with David running out the back gate to find Alexa who had gone out for a jog with Lui and Brock, and the other two walking into the kitchen through the backdoor. Tyler found Craig sitting on the coach the living room, totally engrossed in a CoD one on one game with Brian.

Tyler threw one last glance at Evan, a pleading look asking him to fix everything, but Evan looked away and went upstairs to find the girls. Tyler sat down next to Craig.

"What's up? Haven't seen much of you today," Craig piped up, eyes still on the screen. "Brain, where the fuck did you go?"

"You can clearly see from my POV," he laughed.

"No, I fucking can't!" Craig cried exacerbated, reaching down to punch Brian who was sitting on the floor in front of the TV.

"Craig, do you still talk to Mark?"

Craig was silent a second. "Uh…yeah. Why you ask?"

"I need you to ask a favor of them."

"What's the favor?"

Tyler sighed. With that Craig paused the game and turned to look Tyler in the eyes. He told Brian to fuck off and get him a drink so he could talk in private with Tyler.

"What's going on Ty?"

"Well…Mari just told David why they are here, and…it's not pretty."

"Are they Renegades?"

"Not yet, but they will be if we send them away."

"So they're spies then?"

"…yeah," Tyler 'fessed up.

Craig ran a hand through his hair. It stuck up on end as his hand coursed through.

"What has Alexa and Jonathan said?"

"Jonathan we haven't seen yet; David went to find Alexa."

Craig bit his lip, glancing at the doorway to check if Brian was there.

"It's okay if Brian figures it out. We have to get rid of them, one way or the other."

Craig glanced at Tyler. "The other?"

Tyler sighed. "Let's not talk about plan B or C, can we?" But by the way Craig responded to that comment, Tyler guessed he figured out what plans B and C entailed.

"Okay," Craig said, after a moment of thinking. "I'll call them. I can't guarantee they'll do it, but I'll float the idea their way and see if they would want to help."

"That would be great buddy," Tyler clapped his back gently. Craig flinched slightly, but not at the force of Tyler's hands. Tyler didn't see him flinch, and he didn't see the slight smile on Craig's lips as he got his phone out either.

Evan heard Tyler talking with the Craig downstairs and swallowed. Like fuck he was going to go and keep those girls company; Sydney had been nothing but a constant reminder of how badly he fucked up the night before. Now, Jonathan was hiding in his room on the third floor and his ex-girlfriend was a spy for the very program that was causing them so much heartache. As far as he was concerned, it was all her fault.

Evan was on the third floor, standing in front of the a locked door. He hadn't knocked yet, because he was trying to go over what he was going to say. He wanted to apologize, to say sorry to Jonathan and tell him he just was scared. He didn't know what he wanted, but he hated how sad he crushed he made Jonathan. So after running it over in his head, he knocked on the door three times, and waited.

It was full minute before he heard someone unlock the door. As it swung open, a scruffy Jonathan was framed in the doorway. He was wearing gray sweatpants and a blue hoodie with no shirt underneath and no socks. The hood was pulled up, but as Jonathan took in the man standing in front of him, he pulled down the hood and starred surprised.

"Hey Jon," Evan said shyly. "Can I come in?"

Jonathan walked away to open the curtains, not saying anything as Evan went in and shut the door behind him.

"So, I wanted to say sorry…about everything," Evan started, rubbing his left arm.

Jonathan didn't make a move.

"I guess I was just…scared? I mean…I didn't - don't know what I want…" Evan shoved his hands in his pockets. Even though Jonathan had his back to him, Evan couldn't look at him. He was blushing hard and his voice quivered with anxiety just by looking at his back.

"But I…I can't stand you not talking to me…and…I like you, Jonathan," Evan finally got it out. He took a few tentative steps until he was close behind him. "I really like you, and…I…I want to be with you…God dammit please just look at me," Evan sighed exacerbated.

Jonathan turned and tilted his head up slightly to look Evan in the eye. He was expressionless, and Evan felt a shiver hit him as their eyes met.

"I just…I just wasn't ready to admit to everyone else that…you know…that I…" Evan trailed off, unsure of what to say. He ran a hand through his hair, glancing everywhere but Jonathan's eyes. "I just want you back, I guess…"

Silence. The only sounds heard were faint footsteps downstairs. Evan's ears were filled with the sounds of rushing blood. "Aren't you going to say something Jon?" Evan asked, trying to laugh but it came out more as a nervous exhale then looked away again.

"Aren't you going to say something Jon?" Evan asked, trying to laugh but it came out more as a nervous exhale then looked away again.

"Get out."

Evan turned back to him, confused and alarmed.

"What?"

"I said," Jonathan growled low in his throat, his eyes dark. "Get out."

Evan backed up as Jonathan took a threatening step.

"You flirt with me, you play with my heart, you act like you're interested, then you break both my heart, and my trust. Now you tell me you love me?" Jonathan's sudden, loud bark of short laughter startled Evan. The smaller man held up his hands in mock-confusion. "What changed Evan, huh? What fucking changed?"

Evan's legs hit the back of Jonathan's bed. He glanced behind him then back at Jonathan who was glaring with a hatred Evan had never seen in anyone before.

"I - I didn't want to - you know - um - I just - I didn't want them - the others - all of them - uh - you know," Evan was a mess. He was scared out of his mind. Jonathan was so angry.

"I didn't want the others to make fun of us," he finally got out.

Jonathan laughed a spiteful laugh.

"Fucking really, Ev? Is that the best you could come up with? No," Jonathan grabbed the front of his shirt pulling him down slightly so he was on his level, starring into his stormy, ice cold blue eyes that Evan had always thought were perfect but were now terrifying.

"YOU didn't want to be made fun off, Evan. YOU didn't want to be laughed at. You've always been," Jonathan's voice was low and hot in Evan's face. "You think I give a damn about what they think, huh? You think I'm that FUCKING SENSITIVE?" Jonathan screamed into his face. With one fluid motion he spun Evan around and let go, throwing him against the wall. The impact left Evan winded, and he slumped to his knees. He looked up, Jonathan's eyes flashed with fury.

"GET OUT OF MY ROOM!"

Evan stumbled, trying to get to his feet. Once he was up, he faltered in his steps. He starred at Jonathan, a swell of tears rising in his throat as his best friend stood there hating every breath Evan took.

"Jonathan…I…please…I'm sorry."

"Well it's too fucking late, isn't it?" Jonathan spat. "I'm not afraid to say that I loved you - fuck, I still do - but I'm not going to let you string me along and fuck my emotions over just so you can use me."

"Jon I didn't tell the girls anything, I swear. I had no idea they -"

"Save it for Sydney."

Evan stopped. He felt helpless, powerless, his body still aching from the impact of the wall.

"As far as I'm concerned, your dead to me."

"Jonathan…please…"

"Just get out before I break every bone in your body," Jonathan growled, his body shaking slightly with the rage built up inside him. "Just get OUT!"

Evan ran. He threw the door open and slammed it shut, hitting the wall outside his door and sinking the ground. Tears spilled down his cheeks as he silently cried, Jonathan's words ringing painfully in his ears. He sat for a while, sobbing into his arms as he curled up clutching his knees to his chest, he sat for a long few minutes before he looked up at the ceiling, trying to catch his breath.

His chest hurt from crying, his head ached from when was slammed into a wall, and his ears bled from the sharp words his best friend had thrown at him: "YOU didn't want to be laughed at" "GET OUT OF MY ROOM" "Well it's too fucking late, isn't it?"

Evan lowered his head again, feeling another wave of tears rising in him, but he saw something else that change the wave from a wave of sadness to a wave of anger.

The room across from him was open a jar; Alexa's shared room. Inside was two duffel bags, the bags from the previous day's heist. The gun bags.

Evan unzipped both of them, searching through the contents as he thought up the new plan. One way or another, he had to get rid of the girls. It was because of them this all went to shit with him, with the gang, with Jonathan. It was because of them he hadn't slept at all last night and why Sydney was mad at him, as usual, for not enjoying their reunion sex. It was because of them he spent the rest of the night thinking about Jonathan and feeling like shit. If they were gone, everything would go back to normal, everything would be better, everything would be right again.

Evan pulled out a small, hand-held gun. It was a matte black weapon that fit snuggly into his palm a way those assault rifles or Alexa's training guns never had; it felt right. He turned the gun sideways to read it's model: HK45C. Perfect.

The gun fit snuggly into the back of his jeans, the cold metal pressed against the small of his back as he pulled his black shirt over it. No one would ever be able to tell he had a gun. Evan walked back out, glancing at Jonathan's door as he passed it and went to the stairs. He was going to get ride of those girls, and he was going to get Jonathan back. One way or the other.


	2. Chapter 12 - Shoot Him

David had caught up to them eventually and took about a three minute breather before he could even chock out any words that made actual sense. By the time he told the three of them what Mari had told them, Alexa was anything but happy.

"Are you FUCKING SERIOUS?" She had screeched. "WHY THE FUCK ARE THEY STILL IN THE HOUSE?"

"Because if they go back without information on us they will enlisted into the program!" David yelled back. Brock and Lui watched the interaction, stunned from the news but thinking.

Alexa ran her hand over her slicked back and ponytailed hair, pacing away and kicking rocks as she did, frustrated.

"What's the plan then?" Lui asked, drawing attention away from the seething girl.

"Craig is calling Mark to see if he would be able to help us," David replied. Lui bit his lip, thinking.

"Markiplier?" Brock asked.

"Yep."

"Fuck this, we're going home," Alexa finally joined the conversation again, looking at Lui and Brock, who both nodded and took off with Alexa. They soon made it to the house, and Alexa bust through the door, screaming as she did so "WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON IN THIS GODDAMN HOUSE?"

Lui caught the doorway of the front door, seeing Evan standing halfway down the stairs watching the procession pile inside, a little stunned. Alexa was pointing at him, her chest heaving as tried to catch her breath; she still had enough breath to shout at him though.

"You didn't call them then?"

Evan shook his head.

"Good, cuz I was going to beat you if you had."

Alexa turned to Craig and Tyler who were standing now, Craig's phone still in his hand.

"What did he say?"

"He's willing. I haven't said what the favor is or why we need it."

"Okay, good. Has anyone seen Jonathan?"

"He's still upstairs," Evan answered. Lui looked at him with a raised eyebrow that Evan didn't meet. He seemed a little self-conscious, and Lui didn't like the nervous tick that had developed in him; Evan kept running a hand behind him that made him seem way to nervous. He was up to something. But either Alexa thought nothing of it or she didn't notice, because she blew him off and went back to Craig and Tyler.

"How are we gonna get the girls to him then?"

Lui leaned against the staircase post as David leaned against the wall opposite him, grasping his knees as he caught his breath slightly. Evan stayed standing on the stairs, glancing between the two groups, the nervous tick still worrying Lui.

Brian came out of the kitchen, glancing into the living room then looking questioningly at Lui and David.

"The girls are Renegade spies, and we have to get them to Markiplier so he can get them out of state," Lui explained in a hushed voice so as not to disturb the group in the living room. Brian's eyes widened.

"How are we gonna pull that off? We are still under lockdown the police will be looking for us," Brian asked alarmed.

"I have a better idea of how we're gonna do that," Evan said, leaning into the group. Lui jumped forward in surprised. Lui and the other two starred at Evan, he was leaning on the stair rail with a cocky smile plastered across his face. Lui's eyes narrowed. He hadn't seen Evan like this since before the heist.

"David, Lui, go up to the third floor, Alexa's room, and grab weapons for you three. We're heading out now," Evan jerked his head upstairs. "Brian, keep Alexa here. I don't need her messing this up."

"What about you?"

"I'm already set," Evan smirked, and he went upstairs the second floor, disappearing into the hallway. Lui glanced at the other two.

"Is he serious?" Brian asked, glancing at the three in the living room.

"I don't want to find out," David replied, nudging Lui as he started climbing the stairs.

Lui followed, both taking the stairs two at a time, not talking until they got into Alexa's rooming, pushing the door open and opening the unzipped duffel bags.

David pulled out three PM-63 RAKs, small shiny metallic weapons fully loaded, while Lui grabbed several extra things of ammunition. As he straitened up, he looked at David, feeling a small sense of dread creep up on him.

"I know none of us want those girls around," Lui started, but David finished his thought for him. "But you're not willing to kill them, are you?"

Lui nodded, still looking up at the taller man.

David sighed. "I could never shoot Mari - or any of them for that matter. I still love her, man. I know she's a spy, but I still love her."

"What if Evan wants us to?"

David was silent for a minute, contemplating this possibility.

"He won't." David's response was short, but the Lui could tell the small beads of sweat appearing above his brow were not from the heat.

David and he trudged down the hall towards the staircase, Lui glancing at Jonathan's door as he passed it wondering if he knew what was happening, or if he was even awake. Then he hit David's back, who had stopped at the top of the stairs, starring as Evan walked the three girls downstairs to the first floor, a pistol planted firmly into the back of Niki's head.

The girls stumbled down the stairs, ducking in attempts to avoid Evan's aim, but it was no use, Evan wasn't letting them leave the cross hairs of his weapon. Lui couldn't see his face, but he had a sneaking suspicion that he was calmer than he should be holding a gun to his best friend's girlfriend's head.

David led the two of them down the stairs slowly, following Evan as he led them outside, both glancing at each other worriedly as they hit the first floor. David handed him Brian's weapon before following Evan outside to grab the van.

Lui glanced into the living room, where the rest of them starred, open mouthed.

"Tyler? You coming?" Lui asked, holding at a Rak for him too. As Tyler passed to join David in the car, Lui gave him the submachine gun and two spare ammunition rounds, then turned back to now thoroughly confused face of Alexa.

"What the fuck -" Alexa started but Lui cut her off.

"He won't shoot them, I won't let him," Lui armed his weapon, and Alexa shut her mouth, more impressed than stunned now. She jutted out her bottom lip and nodded her head with approval.

"Besides, I have a sneaking suspicion he's doing this to get on the good side of a certain hormonal teenager upstairs," Lui hinted, and Brian scoffed.

Alexa nodded again, folding her arms across her chest. "Okay, you guys go, but be careful. We are trying to stay low, and the last thing I want is to come and haul your asses out of a sticky situation, which it will be if I have to go," she promised.

Lui nodded, then he jumped out the door, closing it behind him and ran to the van David had pulled out of the garage. As Lui slammed the door shut, Tyler leaned over the back seat, pointing. "He's moving, follow them."

From his position in the passenger's seat, Lui could see Evan in the passenger's seat of the silver Nissan the three girls had arrived in with Sydney driving again. They made a u-turn, then picked up speed as they moved away from the house and towards the highway. David's phone buzzed as the van bumped and swerved onto the street behind the Nissan and Lui picked up the phone.

"They're meeting their boss at some bar. Le Basa by the pier. Not too far. Can you tail us to that?"

"Le Basa, by the pier, got it. We'll tail."

"Don't tail when we get to the bar; I need all the muscle I can get to pull this off. You are all coming in with me."

"Why?" Lui asked, David glancing at him troubled by his confused tone of voice. David took a left onto the highway, catching sight of the Nissan again and speeding up to place behind it.

"I'm going to 'convince' our friends in business suits to guarantee the girls safe transport out of the state, and I need all the help in the convincing part I can get," Evan responded, before ending the call. Lui exited the phone app and brought up Google Maps, typing in the name of the bar into the app before the phone rang again, this time, Alexa.

"Lemme just remind you what the stakes are here, boys," Alexa growled into the phone. Lui shivered, she had a way of really making listened too. Lui put the phone on speaker mode for the whole care to hear and sat it in a cup holder.

"If those girls are not given a safe way out of the state, they will join the cause we are trying to destroy. If that happens, we face them again, this time to kill them. Now, I don't know about Evan, but I don't think Tyler can shoot his ex-fiance and David can't shoot Mari."

David sighed, nodding. He kept his eyes focused on the road, but a deep frown had set into his forehead as he thought about that possibility. Tyler was in a similar state of worry.

"If bodyguards or hired thugs make things difficult for negotiations to happen, don't engage. Your lives aren't worth risking for a suicidal mission like this, but get Evan out of there. I wanna kill him myself."

Lui and Tyler nodded, both readying their weapons.

"And one more thing,"

This grabbed their attention and Lui looked back down at the phone in it's cup holder.

"If those girls make shit difficult for Evan, you can guarantee he will try and pull a trigger on them. If that happens…" Alexa's voice faltered. But Lui got the picture. Neutralize him if at all possible since he's pretty important to the mission.

If all else fails, shoot him.

Alexa hung up after wishing them good luck and instructing Lui to call as soon as the transaction was complete. Lui looked between Tyler and David, who both looked as determined and as scared as he was. They were facing off against Renegade program bodyguards and executives already, so soon after their first big heist. Like any low level player about to fight a high level boss, Lui was starting to wonder what their odds of survival were.


	3. Chapter 13 - Soldier Boys

Tyler was in the back of the van, unsure of where to hide the submachine gun he was carrying. It was small, yes, but not exactly the easiest thing to hide. After glancing around for a smaller weapon inside the van, he settled for a backpack left inside from their previous heist. There was still a few jewels scattered inside, but it fit his gun snuggly and didn't look too obviously like he had hid a gun in a backpack.

He offered the bag to Lui, who put both his and David's guns inside, giving him a small smile of thanks. The van swerved as it found a parking spot behind the silver Nissan, and Brian swung the back doors open as soon as it parked, looping the backpack over his shoulders and running to the side of the Nissan.

Inside, he saw Evan put his gun back in it's hiding place - looping it into the back of his jeans - and ordered the three girls to get out. Niki was in the backseat, and got out next to Tyler, starring wide eyed at him, afraid.

"Ty, please, help us," she pleaded.

"Niki…I-" Tyler didn't finish his sentence. What could he say?

"Niki, we will make sure you guys are safe."

"We're not safe with Evan around," she hissed, jerking her head at Evan who was pulling Mari out of the car with David protesting "be gentle! Just 'cause your angry don't mean you gotta be so rude."

Tyler nodded, biting his lip in thought.

"I will make sure you guys are safe," Tyler repeated, this time shifting his backpack so the metal clanking of weapons was audible to Niki. She got the picture, and widened her eyes.

"When did you become such a bad ass?" she asked, a mixture of alarmed and curious on her perfect face. Tyler had to look away; he still loved her, and she was still kryptonite to him.

"The day I was forced into this awful program. I never wanted you to see me like this Nikki, that's why I called you. You deserve better," Tyler glanced up and over the car at Evan, glaring at David threateningly in case he tried to interfere.

"And certainly better than all this," Tyler finished his thought, looking down at Nikki. Tears rimmed her eyes, and Tyler had to look away again.

"Now walk. We gotta get you guys inside. We're not safe here."

Niki nodded, still frightened, and followed the other two girls escorted by Evan, Lui, and David inside a dark and grimy sports bar. Loud music thumped the air and the musky smell of cigarettes, alcohol, and cologne permitted the air, even though it was the middle of the day. Sydney went up to a desk lady, asking for anyone by the name of "Mr. Clark."

The lady nodded, eyeing the large group, and asked them to follow her. She lead them through the bar, passing pool tables and leather couches covered with shouting men and women who all starred intently at a football game on a flat screen TV. They passed another bar where the bartender eyed the large group as he filled up to mugs of beer and handed them too-

David tugged on Tyler's shirt back, getting him to look around and see the bodyguards sitting at the bar. Tyler glanced at David, both understanding what this meant. If anything went wrong, they wouldn't be getting of here without a fight.

The lady from the desk lead them to a back door, offering it for Sydney to open and left them. Sydney glanced at Evan, who nodded coldly, and she twisted the handle and walked in tentatively, followed closely by the others.

Tyler's eyes adjusted quickly to the single bright lightbulb that hung over the table in the center of the room. On one side was three men, all sitting with dress suits on and dark shades over their eyes with slicked back hair and briefcases stored by their chairs. They were the same business men that met with Evan, David, and Tyler that fatal night now so long ago. On the opposite side of the table was three empty chairs, intended for the girls.

When the seven of them filed into the small space, the man in the middle raised en eyebrow behind his shades.

"I wasn't expecting this big of a turn out," he observed, his voice smooth and calculating.

Evan took a few steps until he was in the pool of light cast by the bare bulb. He's eyes glowed and the dark shadows under his chin and eyebrows and body cast by the stark lighting made him look terrifying.

"Do you remember me?"

The man in the middle smiled; he looked like a snake.

"Of course, Mr. Fong. It's lovely to see you again. But, if you don't mind, I'm not here to talk to you. I'm here to talk to these wonderful ladies," he raised a hand beckoning them to come forward, but Evan held out an arm barring their way.

"Well, you're going to have to talk to me."

"I'm sure they can speak for themselves, Mr. Fong. Don't you believe women should have equal speech?"

Evan frowned. "Yeah, and I also believe women should have a right to know what they're signing up for before they say yes, forced or not."

That snake-like smile.

"You and your group are an interesting bunch, Mr. Fong. Full of stars and exceptional talent. It's a shame you lot had to get mixed up with such a violent individual. What's her name? Alexa?"

Evan was silent.

"But I don't think you know everything about your group, do you? You're the leader, yet you put an awful lot of trust in people you know next to nothing about. What kind of a group is that? You'd never met Jonathan or Alexa before this, yet you give them such power. Are you sure you can actually trust them-"

"I'm not here to talk about my friends," Evan replied bluntly. "I'm here to talk about these girls and their transport out of the state to safety."

The man, presumably Mr. Clarks, glanced away from Evan and looked at the three girls, surveying them with a slow, icy expression. He looked as if he was examining show ponies. Tyler felt Niki shrink into him, and instinctively he ran a hand soothingly up and down her back a few times. He gripped the backpack tighter.

"Transport?" He purred, looking back to Evan.

"Yes. They cannot stay with us. They are not part of the program, so it shouldn't be any hassle to let them leave, should it?"

The man was silent, watching Evan. Tyler was impressed how little Evan faltered.

"Sydney Hall is your girlfriend, correct Mr. Fong? I thought it would give you a little extra incentive to protect instead of…" he allowed his words to hang for a second, before finishing his sentence.

"…causing more chaos and publicity."

"I want the Renegade program to guarantee me safe and immediate transport for Sydney Hall, Mari Sunja, and Nikki Bloomberg. They will be removed from the state of California to wherever they decide to seek shelter and will not be contacted, retrieved, or forced to return or engage with anyone in California again. Is this understood?" Evan spoke clearly and loudly so everyone heard him, ignoring Mr. Clarks's previous comment.

Mr. Clarks leaned his elbows on the table, the snake smile coming back.

"And what should happen if I refuse?"

Evan didn't seem phased. Instead, he pulled his pistol out, causing the three men at the table to go instantly for their guns strapped to their sides, but everyone stopped when they heard the safety lock release. Evan was pointing the gun at his head, a smile playing on his lips. The previously tense air of the room and conversation between the two was now painful.

"Evan what the fuck are you doing?" David hissed, voicing everyone's concern, but Tyler got it too. Evan couldn't look around to confirm his theory, but Tyler got it. He pulled out the Rak Lui had given him, and held it to his head too, stepping up next to Evan. Lui and David followed as well, until all four of them stood illuminated by the harsh light of the single bulb, guns all aimed directly their own heads.

"If you refuse, you loose all of your valuable players. It's a betting game, right? I'm sure my crew has been the source of a lot of the income in the program so far. Would you wanna risk loosing all that?"

Mr. Clarks remained smiling. "Is that plastic toy even loaded?" he taunted.

The round Evan blew into the wall behind the three men made everyone but the four jump. It was a clean shot, and a large hole. Tyler gulped as he imagined what it could do to Evan's head if he pulled the trigger again.

"Yeah, this little plastic toy is loaded."

The man turned back around, no longer smiling, but angry.

"You think you can come in here and threaten us? Do you know who we are?"

"Men with no moral compass who play people against people for sport and get off by betting huge sums of money on who will kill who."

"You're not special, Mr. Fong. You and your crew are nothing but I bunch of nobodies easily tricked by the promise of a little money and fame!" Mr. Clarks spat. Tyler felt it: shame. Mr. Clarks was right, they had all been easily fooled. Evan stiffened next to him as the words sunk in.

Evan didn't move. He wasn't going to back down.

"You and your program have taken everything from me. I broke up with Sydney so she wouldn't be hurt. I stopped contact with my parents so they wouldn't be bribery. I'm sleeping in a guest room at my best friend's house because it's not safe enough to live alone. I'm responsible for the deaths of actual people. All I want is a simple favor that has nothing to do with you, my crew, or the program. Just get them to safety."

The only sound that interrupted the long silence was Evan readying the pistol in his hand, a casual reminder that he had a gun to his head. Tyler and the other two followed suite, making the girls behind them gasp in alarm. Tyler couldn't pull the trigger on Nikki, but he could certainly pull the trigger on himself.

Finally, the man in the middle slammed his fist down on the table. Evan didn't flinch.

"Fine! Safe transport out of the state for the girls. They won't be contacted again, we agree to you conditions," the man rolled back in his chair, very annoyed that Evan had won over him. Tyler went to lower his gun, but Evan used his free hand to grab his arm, and Tyler put it back up, glancing at Evan for answers.

"What more do you want? I already gave you what you came here for!"

"I'm not done yet."

The man starred at him, annoyance and disbelief written all over his face. Brian knew Evan was pushing his luck, but he was enjoying see this little man squirm.

"You don't threaten my crew ever again, you hear me? I trust people I know I can trust, and I trust Alexa completely. Same with Jonathan, same for everyone in my crew."

"And what is this 'crew' you keep referring to?" The man spat angrily.

Evan smiled, the gun still planted firmly to the side of his head.

"We are the Soldiers. We're here to crush the rebels, the renegades, the traitors to morality and goodness. So watch your back, because we're coming for you."

Evan lowered the gun, and nodded his head for them to leave.

"The girls will be outside having something to eat. Pick up the bill before you take them to the airport, will you? I didn't bring any money," Evan winked at the men as the group filled out. Once outside the door, Evan directed the girls over to a small booth in the corner of the bar, waving at a server to come and help them.

"Get me three waters please?" The waiter nodded and disappeared.

"Evan," Sydney spoke up, making him turn. "Why did you do that?"

Evan sighed. "Sydney, I love you. When I called you that day to break up with you we did it so we wouldn't hurt any of you, to protect all of you. But even that didn't stop them," Evan glanced around the bar.

"But I hope now that we have guaranteed protection for all you, not just you three," Evan continued. He took Sydney's hands, kissing them long and slow before dropping them. Mari pulled David into a hug and Nikki stepped up to Tyler, shyly. She jumped up suddenly and kissed his cheek before glancing away, blushing.

"I know I handled it badly, and I know I'm the reason the other two are here," Nikki murmured so only Tyler could here. A real tear did drip down her cheek now, and Tyler lifted a finger to brush it away.

"You are so brave, Ty. Braver than you ever were when were dating," Nikki continued. She sniffed, and looked up at him, eyes shinning wet. But she smiled "beat the program?" Tyler smiled and nodded. Nikki let out a small laugh then, and bowed her head with the thought.

"You were wrong by the way…you and the other guys were willing to risk your lives for us…" Nikki paused to swallow back tears. "It's me who doesn't deserve you anymore."

Tyler smiled, giving her one final, long hug before nudging Evan and David. The four men headed towards the door, nodding at the body guards who glared at them from their spots at the bar. Once inside the car, they burst out laughing.

"Evan holy fucking shit that was so major fucking balls you had back there!" Tyler yelled, clapping him on the back. Evan was grinning stupidly, shaking slightly either from laughter or as the adrenaline wore of and realization of what he had just done kicked in.

"That was some mad tricks you played on them, man," Lui congratulated from the passenger's seat. David started up the car and pulled onto the street. "Would you really have pulled the trigger?"

Evan laughed, but nodded. "I don't care about her anymore…I mean, she broke up with me. But — it's hard to explain…but I just wasn't ready to let her get in harms way. And besides," Evan's eyes sparkled. "I figured we had some strings we could pull by now."

"I wouldn't be surprised," David spoke up. "We're all YouTube famous. That was already a big draw for investors, but after the stunt we pulled at the jewelry store without loosing any of our crew, it shows we can handle ourselves. If I was gonna bet on anyone in this program, it would be us."

So if we — four of the nine member crew — shot ourselves in front of one of the biggest investors in the program? It would be a mess for the program," David continued, smiling as he understood Evan's plan more and more.

"And our crew name? Soldiers?" Lui asked, turning slightly to look behind him at Evan and Brian who were sitting on the benches in the back of the van. "I kinda like it," Lui smiled.

Evan grinned at Tyler who returned it. Tyler was really impressed, not only had Evan fixed a huge problem, but he also showed up the very program they were trying to take down. But no matter what Evan could say about Sydney, Tyler as well as everyone else in that van knew who it was all for.

The more Tyler thought about it, the more he began to realize just how much pain Evan was in for hurting Jonathan the way he did. Only, why had he done it? He didn't have to go and hurt him so badly; Tyler didn't know what had happened, but he had guessed why Jonathan hadn't left his room all day.

As David pulled into the driveway of the ranch house again, Tyler saw everyone, including Jonathan, standing on the porch starring intently at the van.

Evan and Tyler jumped out, both grinning stupidly.

"This man, right here," Tyler elbowed Evan, who rolled his eyes. "This man played those Renegade program assholes for fucking chumps!"

"WE did, Tyler," Evan grinned, elbowing him back.

"What?" Alexa asked, starring perplexed between Tyler and Evan and back again.

"He stuck a goddamn gun to his head and threatened to blow his brains out if they didn't do what he wanted them to do!" David laughed, punching Evan.

"And then you guys did the same thing!" Evan laughed.

"You are so stupid!" Alexa said, starring at him wide eyed, shaking her head. But the grin that spread across her face as she spoke said it all. Evan had done good. And the rest of the group thought so too as David and Lui recounted what had happened and everyone laughed at the amazing story.

Jonathan was standing behind Alexa, his eyes on Evan the entire time. Tyler could see he was impressed, but he didn't want to show it. But neither of them made a move towards each other, instead there was a call to play GMod Prop Hunt and Alexa protested violently, saying she sucked at the game. And so the gang piled back into the house, grabbing whatever they could find in the pantry and fridge to eat and starting up laptops. Everyone still shouting and laughing as they took in their new status as top of the betting pile and their new name: Soldiers.


	4. Chapter 14 - A Secret For A Secret

Craig was lying horizontally across the end of Jonathan's bed. Jonathan was sitting next to him while Lui sat across and Alexa next to him with a bowl of popcorn in her lap. It had been three days since Evan's daring plan had taken shape, and they were heading back to LA tomorrow. Alexa had set up her laptop with Netflix to watch Kill la Kill, and already Craig loved it. Granted, the amount of boobs in it was part of the reason, but it was also ridiculously funny, something that Alexa didn't believe factored into his love for the show.

"The animation is good!" Craig was whining, eyes fixed on Alexa who was leaning back on her hands as Lui took a fistful of popcorn from the bowl in her lap. She scowled at him then rolled her eyes playfully at Craig.

"Sure that is the reason you like it, Craig," she laughed, sitting back up. "It has nothing to do what so ever with the boobs."

"Well," Craig trailed off, grinning stupidly and Alexa laughed.

Jonathan looked up from his phone, disgust in his face but a goofy smile and laugh rising up. "Why are you making me read this trash?"

"Because it's hilarious!" Alexa protested. Jonathan had yet to discover the "joys" of Tumblr, so Alexa was introducing him. Craig had noticed how tense he had become with every sentence he read, and he still looked tense and flushed as he spoke.

"I'm going to throw up," he looked at her, trying to be seriously.

"Not on my phone, on Craig then."

"Not me!" He whined, rolling away from Jonathan so he was on his back, tilting his head up to look at everyone. "Jonathan read it aloud!"

Jonathan sighed. Craig slipped his phone out and opened up Snapchat, as did Lui.

"Delirious ran a hand up Vanoss's side, a strong need building up. 'I want you to -" Jonathan busted up laughing, seeing Craig and Lui's phones. "I can't do this while you guys are recording me!"

Craig uploaded the video to his story before Jonathan started again.

"'I want you to bend me over and fuck me like the little horny slut I am' said Delirious," Jonathan read in a completely monotone voice. When he finished, the group cracked up, Jonathan included.

"That's so going on snapchat," Lui managed to get out.

Jonathan glared, but did nothing to stop either of them. "As long as you didn't get my face…" He warned.

"I didn't, I literally got the floor and your words," Lui assured.

Jonathan nodded and sighed, lying down on the bed as well. "What is people's deals with us dating each other?"

"Because you guys act hella gay?" Alexa offered. "You forget, I was fans of you all before we met; I was part of all this," Alexa took her phone off of Jonathan's chest and went back to her seat on Lui's bed. She switched off her phone and snuggled it into her pocket, silent for a second. Craig didn't like that silence, he knew she was scheming.

"Speaking of which…" she started, but the groans of all three men set her off laughing.

"Wow okay so none of you wanna talk this shit out?"

"Nope."

Alexa glared at Jonathan. "Don't you 'nope' me, you're the one whose been sulking pretty much the entire trip. Evan's all over you!"

"Yeah, after he called me a flirt, said he didn't like me, then attacked you," Jonathan lifted his head to look at Alexa. Craig saw her roll her eyes from his upside down position on the bed. She caught his.

"And what about you Craig?"

Craig closed his eyes, groaning, and flipped himself over. "What about me?"

"I don't know, maybe it's just me, or are you constantly giving Tyler 'undress me' looks?"

Lui and Jonathan busted out laughing. Craig blushed, hard.

"I so am not."

Alexa squeezed out a "you so are," between gasps for breath. She had seen him blush and couldn't stop laughing because of it.

"Tyler and I are good friends, okay? I like him, but not like that. He's - he's - he's just not my type, ya' know? I don't -" but Craig stopped himself. It was kinda useless to pretend anything else, so he sighed and looked up at the ceiling.

"Okay fine, I like Tyler. You happy?"

"Not until you do something about it," Alexa responded.

Craig rolled his eyes and let out a loud huff. He was not in the mood to talk about this.

"And Lui?" Alexa's voice twinkled her extra sugary tone. She was having too much fun teasing all of them.

"You know me, I'm an open book. I don't have any secrets, any crushes, any -"

"Cut the horse shit Lui we all know that's a big lie."

Lui stopped talking. There was a movement of bed springs that signaled Lui didn't want to talk about David, or his obvious crush on him.

"Are you guys seriously not gonna even try to do anything about this?" she cried. Craig felt her eyes skipping between the three of them, hopelessly.

"Look Alexa," Craig rolled over onto his stomach, looking at her. "I know you think this is super cute and all, but it's a little weird, isn't it? Pairing off actual people to like each other? It's okay when it's anime -" Craig nodded his head towards the laptop "- but in real life, it's never the happily ever after we want."

"You think I don't know about happily ever afters?" Alexa spoke, her eyes growing sad. "I know all about betrayal, all about love, and all about rage."

Jonathan shifted his weight next to him, sitting up to look at Alexa, questioningly.

"How about this, okay?" Alexa asked, not moving and lowering her eyes.

"I have a secret. A dark secret I've been keeping silent for a long time; a secret that explains how and why I got to where I am today."

Alexa's words were powerful, and Craig found himself imaging all sorts of scenarios. Was she part of the mob or the mafia? Was she the daughter of FBI agents?

"But I'll only tell," and she looked around the boys slowly. "If you all come clean. You can't tell me there is nothing going on, I know. And that is not the fan in me saying this, it is your friend."

Silence. Alexa looked at Craig, the two catching each other's eyes.

"So who wants to go first?" Craig knew there was only one right answer. However Craig let the silence hang in the air. He wanted to tell them, to unload and stop carrying secrets. But he also didn't want to voice them, because he knew all his hidden feelings would become real.

"I'll do it," Craig mumbled, sitting up and clasping his hands in his lap.

"I already told you guys I liked Tyler. I guess I've liked him for a while? I don't know. I don't really remember when I first started to think of him as something more. He's always been a jackass, always teasing, but when you start to think to yourself 'why am I still talking to this asshole' he goes and does something super meaningful and caring. I remember when we all met up to go to PAX last year, and I swore I was going to kill him that day he was such an asshole. But then before we went up for the panel, he came up to me grinning stupidly and told me to unzip his jacket. He was hiding a stuffed pig up his jacket. I laughed my ass off, and he insisted on me keeping the pig. I still have the stupid thing," Craig laughed, suddenly aware of how quiet the room had become. "I guess that was maybe when I really fell for him…? I don't know. All I know is that after that every mean thing he did seemed like he was flirting. Every sex reference set me on edge because it seemed like something else, all the name calling seemed like loving nick-names…Tyler was always able to draw me back in every fucking time."

Craig sighed, embarrassed by how love sick he sounded. It was totally the truth too.

Jonathan nodded next to him, giving him a smile of respect before taking a breath himself.

"I saw Evan's first video, a Black Ops 2 video. He seemed like a cool guy, even though he didn't speak much. So I messaged him, asking if he'd be interested in playing a few rounds. Ever since then, we've been friends - great friends. I could probably say I loved him from day 1." Jonathan was silent for a second, picking at his jeans as he thought about what he would say next. "Before this, I never met any of you in person. I just didn't want to put my face out there, seeing all the struggles you guys went through on a daily basis; I had to be careful about laughing in public just because my laugh was recognizable. The day I saw Evan's face was the day I fell completely I guess. He was just perfect," Jonathan sighed and hung his head, then threw it back sucking in air. He was trying to stop himself from crying. "I couldn't help but think what it would be like if we were together, if my face was out there, if I told him I loved him. But every time I thought about it, the more scared I would get. I didn't want him to know what I've done to survive or who I real am. I wouldn't be able to live with myself, I thought. Now…" Jonathan rubbed his eye. "Now he's a Renegade."

The room was silent again. Lui sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.

"It was when David called me hot. Over Skype one day when we were just dicking around not really doing anything except opening fan mail and we were bored and wanted to talk to each other. I'd woken up like five minutes before he called me, so I wasn't wearing a shirt and my voice was groggy from sleep. I answered and he laughed and said 'man, Lui, you look hot this morning.' Of all the things I was prepared for, I wasn't ready for that. The rest of the call I couldn't tell if he was hitting on me or just messing. It bothered me afterwards and the more I thought about it, the more I realized how much I liked it. We got close and I just couldn't stop myself; I fell hard. I couldn't show it, of course; he had Mari and I had Rachel and we were just two friends who liked to joke around, but it was never a joke for me." Lui's voice hitched in his throat as he talked. "We would do vlogs together, we would play games together. Whenever he wasn't talking to Mari he was talking to me. I just never understood where I stood with him, and I still don't…"

The room fell back to silence as Lui took a shuddery breath.

"I know we deny and deny our feelings for our friends, but I'm sick and tired of denying," Lui murmured. "It hurts too fucking much, and with the looming threat of dying the next day, I don't think I can keep on pretending. Because what if the next time I see him, he's dead and I'm still just his 'good friend'?" Lui's head stayed down, unable to look up for fear of crying.

It was Alexa's turn, but none of the guys had the strength to look at her. Already their emotions were drained and their energy was low. Craig knew he wasn't the only one fighting back tears, and really all he wanted was to just take a shower and go to sleep.

Jonathan was the first to speak. "Alexa…you don't have to share."

The girl sighed and rubbed her arm. She had probably hoped they wouldn't take her up on it, that she would be saved by Lui or one of the others. Now, Alexa sat quietly, breathing evenly to control herself before starting.

"I wasn't always tough; two years ago if you met me I wouldn't even LOOK like the same girl. I had long hair, never wore tank tops, was a complete nerd, cripplingly shy, and a hopeless romantic. I'd never touched a knife, let alone a gun. In my freshman year at college, I was at USC for pre med, and I was a Renegade - tattoo and everything - but I thought if I could just get through college and get a degree of some sort I would be okay." Alexa shifted her weight uncomfortably. Alexa as a shy, nerdy, long haired, hopeless romantic was something Craig couldn't imagine.

"But freshman year of college came, and a week before winter break was scheduled I was invited to a frat party by one of the heads of the frat house: Phi Kappa Psi. The head had been talking to me a lot before he invited me, so when he did I started to think 'oh my gosh, he's asking me out!' and shit like that. So naturally, I went. He met me at my dorm and took me to the house - that was when I should have noticed something was off. The house was dark: no party was going on. He said it was just for a couple of really cool people the house liked, and took me inside. We spent a few minutes unloading and drinking beers until he kissed me. He took me up to his room and while he was kissing me he asked if I had any tattoos. I said no, but he kept asking until he grabbed my shirt sleeve and pulled it up to reveal my bar code," Alexa twisted her arm to look at the design on her left arm. Her eyes were sad and dark as she recalled the memory.

"When he saw the bar code, I guess all bets were off."

As Alexa continued the story, Craig could hear her screams, see the fear in her eyes as the other house members descended on her, laughing as she tried to get them off of her and stop them from tying her wrists to the bed posts. Alexa told them about the rape, how all twenty three of the boys went at her, invading her in every way possible, while the head filmed it all. It over an hour before they had all had their fun. Alexa said they untied her wrists, and threw her out onto the yard, laughing as she cried and tried to put her clothes back on, and slammed the door shut, shouting at her "that's what you get for being a killer."

"Because of the bar code, I deserved to be beaten, raped, tortured, and discarded like trash. For some reason, that was okay in their minds."

All three boys were starring at her, eyes wide as images of what Alexa had described made them shiver and their stomachs flip. Alexa shuddered and wrapped her arms around her knees.

"I called Jonathan, crying. I told him where I was, what had happened, and asked him to stay on the phone with me until he got there. When he arrived, it was about nine at night. He cleaned me up with the first aid stuff he had in his car as I cried and cried until I couldn't cry anymore," Alexa murmured, her face close to being buried in her knees.

"And when I ran out of tears, I guess I also ran out of goodness."

Alexa then described where she told Jonathan to go, a grungy gas station not far from the house. They bought five jerry cans, filled to the brim with gasoline, a swiss army knife, and a lighter. Alexa instructed Jonathan to take her back to the house, where she poured all five of the cans around the house, over the lawn, over the back, and threw two up onto the roof. When she finished, she asked Jonathan for the lighter he bought.

Alexa looked at Jonathan. "He originally told me no, that this was bad, that I shouldn't be doing this, but I disagreed. I wasn't going to let those boys win. I was sick of being the good girl, just getting through life and allowing people to walk all over me. I was not going to let them get away with this, thinking they could fuck me and get away with it because I'm just a Renegade, because I'm not a person. I wanted them to feel sick when they looked at another bar code, tattoo or not, because they would remember me and what I did to them as pay back. So Jonathan gave me the lighter, and I dropped it onto the gasoline.

"The house was engulfed within seconds. There was no way of saving it. Jonathan and I stayed for a while watching the house burn; he figured out why I chose to burn the house after five minutes or so, didn't you?"

Jonathan nodded. "There was no one in the house. They had all left to go out for drinks or something, I don't know. But after we finished at the house we drove down the road to watch for when they came back. When they did, there was no way the house could be save; the roof had collapsed and no one had called the fire department. We certainly didn't."

"So why the short hair?" Lui asked.

Alexa touched her hair. "I cut it off with the swiss army knife I bought. I took chunks of it and cut it off at my shoulders and threw the chunks into the house-inferno. Kinda symbolic and shit, ya' know? I felt like my hair was the last piece of me that I had left, and since old Alexa couldn't fend for herself, old Alexa could burn in the house fire too. I later got it done more professionally, but that was after I dropped out of USC and severed all ties with my family. They hated the new hair, and hated that I dropped out of med school; I couldn't tell them the truth…"

Alexa grew silent, clearing her throat slightly as she untangled herself from her legs and caught Craig's eyes. Craig swallowed hard when he met hers: they were a mix or rage, of pain, of tears, and of regret. It was so weird to see her like this, vulnerable and open.

"So when you say I don't know anything about happily ever afters," she sighed, her voice weighted and sad, "I am the queen of fucking happily ever afters." She let out a sad laugh, and stood up. "So on that happy note, I'm going to go to bed," she declared softly, and went to the door.

"Alexa!"

She turned around and smiled sadly as Craig came to the door with her, and opened it for her. Since they were sleeping in the same room, he figured they should just leave together.

"Night guys," Craig said, his voice as weighted as hers and he turned and wave solemnly as Jonathan and Lui tucked themselves into bed.

Once in their own room, Craig shut the door and gathered Alexa up into a hug. She was so tiny and thin, Craig thought she might break especially after what she had just said. But as they pulled back, Craig saw Alexa for maybe the first time. A small girl with short brown hair, large brown eyes that weren't hard, tanned and scraped up body sporting her usual oversized jacket with tank top, sleep shorts, and large fuzzy socks. She wasn't Alexa the boot camp instructor, Alexa the heavy, Alexa the Renegade, she was just a small girl with a dark past who had somehow come out the other end with a heart and the ability to care even in the worst of times.

Alexa punched him, lightly, a small smile on her face. "Stop staring at me, I'm nothing like Tyler," she winked at him and climbed into her own bed, pulling he covers over her head as Craig slipped into his own.

"I am so going to regret telling you about that secret," he laughed.

"I won't," Alexa's small voice piped up in the darkness.


	5. Chapter 15 - Worth A Million Dollars

Lui was more than happy to be back in the big house again. Especially since it meant he wouldn't be woken up by Alexa's departure for her early morning runs with Jonathan. Those two, he decided as he lay by the pool with dark sunglasses shielding his face from the hot autumn sun and listened to the drifting sounds of LA traffic, were crazy.

The group had left the ranch house around midday after cleaning it up, checking all the rooms, and being careful to wipe down everything so no trace of them was left. They traveled back to Rodeo Drive, where Tyler and Craig jumped out to pick up the white SUV they left at their heist location several days ago, then the rest continued on to the big house. Tyler and Craig had gone to get groceries, as Alexa was sure all the perishables would be bad. As soon as they arrived, Alexa and Jonathan set everyone tasks: Lui was to clean the downstairs toilet with Brock. When the house was spotless, everyone took the remainder of the day to relax and find a little bit of relief from the amount of drama that had gone down.

Now it was two in the afternoon, and Lui was enjoying some piece and quiet by the pool. Lui liked his house, even now when it was noisy and people were all over the place, he still liked it's view over the big city, the heat of the fall, afternoon sun on the pool area, the modern feel the place had. He especially liked how he couldn't hear anything except for the occasional screech from someone upstairs as everyone played a round of whatever it was. It was the definition of relaxation.

Then a gentle voice broke the calm echoes of traffic and city.

"So while you're out here," the tall shadow of David blocked Lui's sun. "Everyone else is inside playing GMod."

"And while everyone is doing that," Lui retorted, sleepily, as David lay down in the chair next to him. "You're out here with me."

David snorted. "Guess we're just as bad as each other."

Lui grinned. "What happened? You get kicked out for being an asshole?"

"Ha. You're so funny. No, my computer is acting up. Why couldn't we of robbed a PC store or something?" David complained, taking off his shirt and laying down in the recliner. Lui was very aware of how white the skin of his chest was, but he tried hard not to look. Instead he laughed again. The Lui was silent but David stretched, groaning in satisfaction.

"This is so much better than that small ranch place."

"Hopefully we won't go back there after our next heist, right?"

"I'll suck Alexa's dick if it means we don't go back there," David dead panned, and Lui grunted a laugh. David's small smile at Lui's laugh was undetected.

"So last night I noticed Craig and Alexa went into you and Jonathan's room…" David inquired, still staring at the sky. Lui nodded and hummed a response.

"What went down?"

Lui didn't know what to say. "Just the four of us sharing stories. Nothing major, just regular friends having a friendly time with lots of laughs and no tears."

Man he fucked that up.

David laughed, hard. "That was a wreck of a sentence, and a wreck of a lie," David spluttered and Lui frowned, trying to hide his blush with an indignant look.

"So I guess Alexa told you all about the time she burned a frat down, huh?"

Lui jumped and sat up, looking at David.

"How -"

David didn't move, just shrugged. "The night the girls arrived at the ranch house I couldn't sleep, so I went downstairs to get some water. Alexa was there, and we started talking and drinking, and everything came out. She was really fucked up that night, and not just from the booze."

Lui starred at him, then looked up at the house, towards where the game room was, as if expecting to see Alexa watching them.

"After she left to go back to her room with Craig, I asked Jonathan if it was true. He said yes, but even worse," Lui murmured, turning his head away from the house and starring at the water, glistening carefree in the afternoon light. "She downplayed how beat up and broken she was when she told us. Jonathan said when he found her, she needed to be hospitalized she was bruised and bleeding so badly. She was internally torn up too, it turns out, and Jonathan and her almost went broke trying to pay for all the hospital bills afterwards. Worst part, she came out of that sterile."

Lui looked down at the concrete, frowning. "Can you imagine what would posses someone to do that to another person? To put someone so close to dying just to get a little fucking pleasure. It's fucked up."

"And they weren't even Renegades," David added. "Makes you wonder what kind of fucked up world we live in."

"Really seriously…" Lui's words drifted off as he spoke, re running Alexa's story. It was crazy and frightening to think this was possible for someone to do. But the more Lui thought about it, the more frightened he became of himself.

"David…"

David hummed a response, he was still lying on his back staring at the sky.

"You don't think we would ever end up like those guys? Not abusing people, no, but just like not giving a shit about who we hurt, right?" Lui asked, frowning as he spoke.

David didn't speak, but turned his head to look at the smaller man next to him. David propped himself up on his elbows and Lui looked away, not wanting to get caught starring. David was silent for a while, watching Lui until the second man looked at him. Lui saw the look in his eyes; they'd been thinking the same thing.

"I don't think we will," David started, slowly. "Because for one we have Alexa here who could kill us with our own finger if we became anything like those frat fuckboys,"

Lui snickered, but it was short lived.

"But also," David looked out at the pool water, "because we have each other. Alexa was very much on her own when she was attacked, and she dealt with it the only way she could think of. Now us, we have each other to fall back on. I don't think we will end up like them - or even her - because we will never be alone. And being in this gang now, I think Alexa will get better too. She still hurts from that, you can see it in her eyes, but now she has a reason not to loose it like that again."

Lui thought on his words, and nodded, looked back at the pool. Lui knew they all had fears and history, he was no exception. The worst part was when their dirty little secrets would all come spilling out; he dreaded that day, mostly because that would mean the end of his and David's friendship. Forget it entirely. So much for relief, this was just causing him more stress.

When he turned back to David, he was starring at him, smiling slightly.

"You gonna stare all day?" Lui teased, getting up and stretching.

"You gonna do something about it?"

Lui's heart jumped slightly when he heard that, and he turned to see David also standing and stretching. He got an idea.

"Yeah," Lui grinned, and grabbed one of David's arms, swinging him around so his back was to the pool, then pushed. David stumbled, teetered at the edge, then fell, hit the water with a splash. Lui busted out laughing as David surfaced, spitting water as he cussed the smaller man out.

"You fucking twat!"

"That's a mean word Nogla!" Lui teased in his squeaker voice. "I'll tell my mommy!"

David splashed water towards him and Lui laughed, leaning towards the pool to splash him as well. They were stopped by the loud voice shouting, "You'll tell me what?"

Alexa was standing in the doorway leading into the house, leaning against it and smiling at the two men outside. She was wearing jeans, which was a new thing for her.

"Mommy, David is calling me mean things!" Lui squeaked, pointing a finger at David who was still treading water in the pool. Alexa spluttered a laugh.

"You clowns get in here and help with shopping! We got some big news you should here," she added, winking, disappearing back into the dark house.

No sooner was she gone than Lui felt a wet hand grab his arm and yank him towards the water. Lui hit the water face first, spluttering for air. When he surfaced, David was out of the pool and wrapping a towel around his shoulders, laughing at Lui's peril as she he shook some water out of his hair. Lui starred up at him, partly angry at him for pulling him in, and partly in amazement at how someone could be so beautiful.

"You gonna stare all day? David teased, throwing Lui's earlier comment back in his face, and holding out a hand to pull him out of the water.

Lui was surprised to see everyone had pilled into the kitchen, either sitting on counter tops or standing around as Alexa pulled up something on her laptop. She motioned for Lui and David to join them, although giving them dirty looks for being late.

"Okay guys. Remember when on the last heist I went to the bathroom before Evan gave the signal?"

Lui and the others nodded.

"Okay, well this is what I did," and Alexa pulled up a youtube video posted by CNN, hitting play with a triumphant smirk on her face.

It was security camera footage of the women's bathroom. The room was small, with maybe three white stalls reflected in a long mirror that spanned the length of three sinks. The floor was a white marble and the walls were another pastel color lost in the terrible quality of security camera. It was empty. But then Alexa entered the bathroom and dropped her bag heavily on the floor, and leaned over the middle sink. After a moment she turned, and looked straight into the security camera.

"You're about to hear an explosion and gunshots outside. That will be my friends. This is a heist, and this is our confession." In the background, glass shattered and gun shots echoed from the main lobby. Alexa smiled her sweet smile and continued to speak in her high pitched voice.

"We're not really interested in the jewels, or the money. We're interested in the fame. This is an announcement, a callout, for a program that should have died along with the Ancient Romans centuries ago." Alexa pulled up the sleeve of her left arm and revealed the bar code tattoo. "To the people who put this tattoo on me when I was only fourteen, you're days are numbered. To the people who put the tattoos on my friends out there," she jerked a hand behind her to the door leading to the lobby, "we are coming for you. To the people who thought this whole program would be a good idea, start digging your graves now. The Renegade Program ends with us; we are taking a stand. And we will continue to be high profile, to be a problem, and continue to fight until it is shut down for good."

Alexa grabbed her bag and pulled out one of her dual pistols, aiming at the camera.

"I don't care how long it takes, I don't care who has to die, it ends now. It ends with us. The Renegade Program is over!" And then the bullet hit the camera and it went dark.

Clapping rang through the kitchen and shouts of "well said," and "fuck yeah" were passed around. Alexa beamed.

"This is the last time this video will be searchable on YouTube, sadly. The program has covered up for us real nicely and deleted most all the footage. I found this gem and saved it just before the wipe," she smirked.

"And also!" Alexa added, bringing up another page. "This was posted on a whole bunch of news sites," she muttered gleefully as she pulled up a picture from Le Box. It was a security camera still, with almost everyone except David and Evan in shot. Brock, Tyler, and Alexa were watching the front entrance, Craig and Jonathan stuffing backpacks with jewels, Brian and Lui on the floor in the center trying to crack the safe. Everyone was there. Above the photo was the word 'reward' in large letters with a string of numbers after it.

"ONE MILLION DOLLARS REWARD?" Tyler shouted in disbelief. Everyone pilled in to check to see if the numbers were right, which they were. Lui's heart was racing; they were not only famous for a heist, but wanted for it too. Shouts of laughter and whoops of joy came from everyone, high fives and hugs too. Once it all died down, Brian spoke up.

"So now what?" Brian asked, jumping down from the counter behind Lui. "We can't end this here. Like Alexa said, we're gonna keep being high profile. So where is our next fight?"

Jonathan let out a breathy laugh. He was standing on Alexa's right, and turned around to face Brian. "What's the rush? I say instead of doing another huge profile fight, we just hit up a bar and get really fucked up tonight."

Alexa hissed "that rhymed," as a murmur of approval ran through the crew.

Evan, on Alexa's left, spoke up now. "We are in the middle of planning a new heist positioned around a bank system. This one would be focused on hitting a 'big spender' in The Renegade bidding pool."

Brian nodded his approval. "I can be down with a couple of drinks, just don't tell the bartender how old Alexa and Craig are," and he winked at the two youngest in the group knowingly.

"God Brian, we don't need to be twenty one, we just need horny dudes with thick wallets, right Craig?" Alexa mockingly rolled her eyes and winked at Craig, setting the group laughing as she closed her laptop.

"I'm not selling myself for drinks Alexa!" Craig protested of the racket, but it was too late. The gang started to pile out and get back to work, Lui and David following the rest back up to the game room. As they were leaving however, Alexa caught Lui's eyes as she turned to leave, and the two smiled a knowing smile. Tonight was going to be fun, outrageous, and most importantly, the relief everyone was craving silently.


	6. Chapter 16 - Relief

Hitting up a bar was a good idea, and everyone was excited to do it. However, the group made a swift u-turn when they passed a club that was open, busy, and had little to no line.

Hitting up a club, in particular The Pixie, was a great idea. But with the amount of 'Boulder and Ice's Brian had just had — some weirdly named drink the bartender had handed him when he asked for the strongest drink the had — he would be surprised if anything sounded like a bad idea.

The club was loud, grimy, smokey, and perfect for a little stress relief. The nine of them had bought a party room on the second floor, overlooking the huge dance floor on the ground below. A small aisle ran along the edge of the VIP rooms on the second floor, with two staircases on either end of the club leading down to the first floor. It had been ideal, however Brian and Brock decided it wasn't good enough for them anymore, leaving the drinking contest between Alexa and David with the others placing bets in favor of a more intimate space. The contest was hilarious: the irishman verses the ex-college student, and when Brian took Brock's hand, winking at him as he lead him out of the party room and towards the second floor bathroom, Alexa and David were on their fifth shots and swearing loudly.

The relief from the loud thumping music in the main hall was heavenly to Brian's battered ear drums, however the blood rushing in them as Brock's lips hit his again after a brief pause for air had replaced it. Brock tasted great, a mixture of fruit and vodka that left Brian wanting more as he grabbed the hair at the back of the other man's neck and forced him impossibly closer to him. In retaliation, Brock pushed Brian further into the wall of the stall they had locked themselves in and edged up slightly, so only the balls of his feet rested on the floor.

Yes, Brian had to admit to himself, it was tacky. Getting completely fucked up all so he could hook up with the guy he had had a crush on for nearly two years before this. Cliche. Almost trashy considering they were making out in a grungy public restroom stall in the middle of a dive bar that smelt like weed and rubbing alcohol. Did Brian care? Fuck no. He was way to turned on to give a shit about being trashy.

Brian's right hand traveled down Brock's back, ending with a sharp slap on his ass that got a groan of pleasure in response. Brian kneaded his butt, and grinned manically as Brock pulled away, eyes droopy from the booze and hazy from lust. Brock smiled right back at him, as one hand traveled down to the front of his trousers to palm Brian. Brian sucked in sharply through his teeth, then grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him close again.

Brock's free hand traveled up and under his shirt, clawing at his back as he used his body to push even harder against him. Brian wrapped his legs around the other mans waist and rolled his hips as he did. Brock reacted sharply. Brock turned them both around and slammed Brian hard up against the other side of the stall, their heads knocking into each other hard, but neither cared. It was violent and unforgiving, and Brian would be damned if he let Brock go back home tonight with several scratches, bite marks, and hickies. Brian's head hit the back of the wall as Brock pushed his head up, exposing his neck and nipping at the sensitive flesh. The sounds escaping Brian's lips would of been embarrassing if he wasn't so fucked up.

"Brocky…" he managed to get out, and slid back down to Brock's head height and pushed his lips against the other mans again, loving every second of it all.

Then the door to the restroom swung open. "Brian! Brock! You fuckboys in here?"

Tyler. Of fucking course.

Brock dropped Brian, and the two froze, glancing in the direction of the bathroom door. Brock looked back at Brian, smirked at him and dropped to his knees, starting to unzip his jeans. Brian's heart skipped a beat. Was Brock really doing this now?

"Uh, yeah. We're in here," Brian called out, and his head hit the stall in a silent scream of pleasure as Brock started. Brian made a swat at him, but Brock dodged it, grinning.

Tyler laughed.

"You guys taking a shit?" Tyler slurred, his footsteps echoing on the tiles.

Brian mouthed 'fuck' and squeezed his eyes shut, trying hard to not focus Brock's insanely amazing lips.

"Yeah. Major fucking shit," he got out.

Tyler laughed again.

"Sounds like it…" Tyler kept talking. "You've been gone a while though…"

Brian interlaced his fingers in Brock's hair, shoving himself further into Brock's mouth. He couldn't think, how could he? Brock filled his head stopping words from forming at all.

"Haven't heard Brock yet…he got something in his mouth?" Tyler's head suddenly popped over the top of their stall and screaming with laughter "I knew it!" Brian pulled both his pants and Brock up, flustered.

"You fuckin asshole, Tyler!" Brian swatted at Tyler drunkly, stumbling slightly. Brock placed a hand on his stomach, steadying him before the two looked up at Tyler, who was watching them with a cocked eyebrow.

"So…you guys like…a thing then? Pretty cute," he giggled.

Brian and Brock glanced at each other, unsure.

"What's so funny 'bout it?" Brock slurred slightly.

Tyler shrugged, growing pinker than he already was from the Tequila shots he'd been downing like water.

"That everyone in this crew seems to be swinging towards one another. You seen some the gay shit thats going out there? I'm not one to judge though…"

Brian starred at him. Tyler was really drunk and he was starting to piss Brian off a little.

"Hey Tyler," Brock started, leaning against the stall wall. "I love you man, but either take a piss, throw up, join in, or tell us what you wanna say and go." Brian looked at the man surprised. Brock was feisty when drunk.

Tyler laughed, crossing his arms on the top of the stall. "Aight, sorry." He didn't move though. "It's just…"

Brian and Brock waited.

"I like Craig. Like…a lot," Tyler sighed, running a hand through his hair and swaying slightly. "And I wanna tell him how fucking adorable and sexy he is and I just…I don't know…"

"Tyler you're over thinkin' this man," Brian leaned against the stall wall next to Brock. "We're at a club. We're all drinking. This is the night to say and do shit you may not have the balls to do when sober. I mean, what you think we're doing here?" He nodded to Brock, who glanced at him questioningly.

"Relieve yourself; stop hiding"

Tyler frowned. "What if he doesn't -"

"Ty, dude," Brock was done with this conversation now.

"Alright, alright, I'll let you two homo's get back to suckin' each other off, jeez," Tyler disappeared over the edge of the stall and his footsteps headed towards the door. "Hey for the record, Alexa beat David. She is officially the biggest drinker," and with that the restroom door closed.

Brian turned back to Brock, who wasn't looking at him, instead frowning lost in thought. Brian bent down to get his face between Brock's and his line of sight. "Everythin' good Brocky?"

Brock lifted up his head and pulled away slightly from Brian's touch, still frowning. "Why'd you say that?"

"Say what?"

"You know, 'what you think we're doing here?' what you mean by that?"

"Oh…" Brian ran a hand through his hair.

"Brian…do you not like me or something?"

"Of course I fucking do!"

"Then why did you say that?"

"Because…" Brian swallowed. "Because I wouldn't be able to sober."

Brock starred at him, stunned.

"…Why…wouldn't you do this sober?"

"I would just be scared you'd say no…"

Brock placed a hand on Brian's chin, raising his head, and smiled. He pulled him quickly towards him in a tight embrace.

"I'm never going to say no to you Bri."

The pet name made Brian blush.

"Promise?" he whispered.

In response, Brock kissed him, and this time, Brian couldn't taste alcohol in it.

Tyler left the bathroom and went back to the VIP lounge, where more drinks had been ordered. Brian and Brock joined the group later, and by that time, everyone was too drunk to remember when they had left.

The next thing Tyler could remember was jumping up and down in the middle of the dance floor with the rest of the crew, all of them laughing and shouting. Their friends remained in a tight circle bouncing with the beat and shouting out lyrics to songs they recognized. Craig was beside Tyler, the two brushing their bodies against each other in a wild, sweaty mosh of people, yet Craig was always next to him. Maybe at one point Tyler had bent down and kissed him, or maybe Craig and jumped up to kiss him, he wasn't sure, but he did remember the sensations that came with it. And it was perfection.

What he could remember was the sudden flood of light from the lights turning on, the music stoping, and angry shouting that made Tyler and the rest of the crew turn to watch as a large group of asian males waltzed into the bar, all wielding baseball bats with metal decals attached. The crowd on the dance floor parted quickly, leaving their group of nine alone in the center. One boy stepped forward flanked by two others with black bandanas around their nose and mouth and black and purple shoes. The leader was a skinny asian boy with died white hair.

"You looking for something?" Evan shouted at the new rival group.

"You're the boys who broke into that jewelry store, aren't you?" the leader shouted.

"Depends whose asking!" Evan shouted back, folding his arms and smirking.

Alexa pushed to the front, stumbling a little in her extreme high heels and short black dress. Evan took one look at her and backed up next to Tyler. She looked pissed.

"Do I look like a boy to you?" she called, her voice the same bubbly girlishness she had used as a decoy. Alexa spun slowly, gyrating her hips as she did, playing up the skinny drunk club girl for her and her friend's amusement. Tyler and Evan whistled and shouted mock cat calls with the rest of their friends.

The leader glanced at his friends who all had the same look of confusion on their faces.

"However, yeah, we the crew that gone pulled off the big heist, right boys?" Alexa hollered, looking at the group behind her. Tyler shouted and whooped with the others again.

"But this ain't the night for a fight, okay? This is a celebration of living, boys! Don't kill for the program, live for yourselves," Alexa's drunken insightfulness brought on a round of cheering again, as well as laughter which she enjoyed as well.

"We aren't hear to celebrate anything except your executions," the lead boy said, pointing his baseball bat at her. The rival gang let out a chant of guttural whoops in perfect unison. The crowd around the two gangs were murmuring and pulled back even further. Everyone knew the fight was coming, and Tyler could feel himself focusing and sobering up quickly as the threat become more and more real with each second.

"You better be careful who you're threatening, kid," Alexa scoffed, her voice loosing it's drunken flourish of pleasure. Alexa straightened up, and slowly moved her hands up her thighs to her hips and continued to move them up. She wasn't in the mood for fun and games anymore, and Tyler felt the group around him winding up for the fight.

"Because I've had a pretty rough fucking week," her hands caressed over her ribcage and Tyler felt Evan nudge him. In his hand was a glass tumbler he was handing to Tyler, which he took. This was going to be a fist fight, since Tyler didn't think they had brought guns to the club. However, he soon figured out how wrong that was.

"And I'm not in the mood to babysit," Alexa's hands stopped at the top of her breasts. "So walk away now, or get ready to grow up real fast."

No one moved.

Alexa smiled, and reached her hands into the top of her dress and down into her bra, pulling out her two dual Beretta pistols and firing one shot into the leader's stomach, then one into each bodyguard. Well, of course she brought her guns, Tyler thought.

The shots were the signal he and the others had been waiting for, and Tyler rushed the rivals with the others at his side.

Tyler body slammed the closest guy, throwing him to the floor and crashed a tumbler into the side of their head. Tyler picked up his baseball bat for his own use and swinging it at the next person he saw. He felt Craig's back press up against his and Tyler turned just it time to catch another baseball bat with his own. He shoved the guy off, smacking him between the eyes with the butt of the bat and then threw it to Craig, who swung it up between another's guys legs. Tyler flinched as he watched the interaction, but grinned and shouted "nice fucking shot!"

Tyler could hear his friends shouting to one another: words of encouragement, warnings, whoops and cheers, all of them moving as if they had been waiting for this moment all night. This was the real relief from the nerves and stress that had been building up all week; they didn't need a bar of a club, they just needed to fight.

The fight was short, and since Alexa had brought her guns, the rival Renegades were soon too wounded to fight, or dead. The leader was on the ground, groaning when Evan stood over him looking down, his legs straddling the other boys chest. He jerked his head to Lui and David to grab their stuff from the VIP room, signaled Craig to cover the tip, then looked at Jonathan for assistance. The two picked the rival Renegade up by the shoulders and dragged him outside, followed closely by Brock and Brian. Alexa shot a bullet into the only living rival Renegade left, then she pointed her guns into the air, firing off a round each.

"And if so much as one of you calls the cops," she shouted, setting her jaw and resting her arms on her head. She could pass for a model, without the guns or the blood splatters up her legs and arms. "Then you're all going to get it," she promised. David and Lui had come back by now and were ushered out with Craig and Tyler by Alexa.

Outside by the van, Jonathan and Brock had the leader of the rival gang pinned up against the van, blood oozing from the hole in his stomach. Brian swung, planting a quick punch into the side of the guy's face. The Renegade coughed up a blood, and smiled, shaking his head. A spurt of blood ejected out of his stomach, and his eyes were woozily looking up at Evan. He was gigantic and fierce, standing close enough to be seen in the boy's hazy eyes but far enough away not to be caught in the spray of blood.

"How did you find us?" Evan asked again.

"You think you can intimidate me?" the kid asked. "Purple Dragon does not get intimidated…" he coughed again.

"In case you didn't notice, Purple Dragon just got fucked. You don't exist anymore," Evan spat his words at the kid, who's smile didn't disappear.

Lui broke away from Tyler and the rest to join Evan in questioning the guy.

"Is it the bar code tattoos?" Lui raised the sleeve of his tight black shirt. "These things?"

The kid looked from the bar code to Lui, still grinning.

"You already know the answer, don't you?" He asked. Lui was silent, but straightened, thinking. David unlocked the van, taking the driver's seat and Lui moved to join him, shaking his head when Jonathan looked at him questioningly. Lui caught Evan's eye before disappearing inside and tapped his wrist. It was getting late, and Tyler guessed the cops would be making an appearance very soon.

Evan nodded at Brock and Jonathan who dropped the guy, all three of them moving towards the van. Alexa pushed past Tyler, handing him her high heels. He glanced at them before looking at her for clarification.

"I don't want to cause him anymore pain. Plus my feet hurt from these fucking things," she pleaded. Tyler took the shoes.

"You hide your guns in your boobs?" He asked, grinning as he said it.

She smiled goofily. "Yeah, it was a booby trap."

The two laughed at the stupid joke before Tyler jumped into the back, holding the door to wait for Alexa. She grabbed the rival boy's hands, dragging him into an alley not far away, all the while saying "it will all be over soon," and "I'm sorry you didn't take my warning," as the boy cried and pleaded for mercy. Tyler turned his head away once they were out of sight and he caught Evan watching him. He was sitting across from him with Jonathan sitting next to him, his head leaning against the back of the van in half sleep.

"You felt it too, huh?" Tyler asked low. He felt Craig's head dipping onto his shoulder.

Evan nodded. "Yeah…it was weird."

"I didn't like it."

"Me neither," Evan agreed, stretching and wrapping an arm around Jonathan's shoulder. "But it worked wonders for everyone by the looks of it," he added, turning his head to look at the sleeping man next to him.

The gun shot echoed, and Alexa darted towards the van, her black dress stained even worse now with blood. She slammed the door shut and practically fell onto the floor van as it started off. She lay there a second, breathing hard before saying "well that's one little black dress I managed to ruin."

Tyler and Evan laughed low and roughly. She was trying to lighten the mood. It did work, but Tyler guessed she felt how wrong it was too, that they all felt better after fighting. Tyler was just glad they were heading home.


	7. Chapter 17 - I Love You

The one thing Jonathan wanted was sleep. Was it really that hard?

Everyone had gotten home around one and instantly went their separate ways to sleep. The house went quite literally minutes after David locked the van. But now it was almost three and Jonathan had been tossing and turning all night. His room was probably once a storage room for something, since there were still lighting equipment shoved into corners and other boxes lining the back wall. Probably the storage room for Lui's set ups whenever he did any live streams that showed his face. Jonathan's bed was an ottoman pulled out onto the floor, which was better than the cots David and Brian slept on, or just the plain queen mattress on a floor Alexa had.

Jonathan swung his legs out of bed and rested them on his bare knees, holding his head in his hands. His head throbbed and as he stood, he swayed gently. He was only in boxers, but Jonathan didn't care, everyone else was probably asleep and Alexa would care. Somehow, he made his way to the door and staggered towards the bathroom down the hall from his room, speeding up as he felt the heave making it's way up from his stomach. Once in the bathroom, Jonathan doubled over in front of the toilet and vomited. It was a nasty, pinkish mixture. Not even salmon, just straight fucking pink. Jonathan cringed in disgust and flushed the toilet, leaning back against the wall opposite him and sighing, closing his eyes. He still felt like crap, although sitting at least stopped him from feeling dizzy. Everything was all mixed up, from his thoughts to his emotions, and the alcohol didn't help. He needed to calm down, stop wanting to hit everything, especially Evan. It was starting to become torture for him to watch him interact with everyone except him.

The door creaked a little and Alexa appeared, still tugging a tank top onto herself even though she forgot shorts. She gave a slight nod as she rushed the toilet too, pushing him out of the way slightly so she could vomit herself. Jonathan patted her back gently as she was sick, then she fell back against the wall next to him, breathing hard. She handed him a piece of toilet paper to clean his mouth off, which he took gratefully.

"So it turns out, when you drink a lot of 'Fairy Dust' shots or whatever the fuck I had, your vomit looks green?" Alexa laughed, closing her eyes as well. The two sat there, in nothing but underwear and a baggy tank top for Alexa, starring at nothing and wrapped up in their own thoughts. Jonathan looked at her before sighing and opening his mouth to say what was on his mind.

"Were we ever a thing 'Lexa?"

She frowned, still starring into space.

"I don't really ever know…"

"I mean like, I liked you and you liked me-"

"Yeah, yeah."

"And we did fuck-"

"Several times."

"Yeah," Jonathan agreed, still starring into space. Neither moved, except for the rising of one another's chests.

"Would you ever do it again?" Jonathan looked at her this time.

Alexa frowned again, and turned to him. "Huh?"

"You know, would you ever wanna…get back together?"

Alexa starred at him for a second, then lent her head against the wall, blowing air out of her mouth and widening her eyes as she did.

"Jonathan, I-" she started.

"Forget I asked, it's stupid."

"-Yes."

Jonathan turned back to her and saw she was looking at him.

"You serious?"

"I mean, yeah. I know you think of me as kind of like your sister, but I'd still fuck you."

Jonathan waited for a second, and then they both broke out into laughter.

"Incesty…" Jonathan laughed.

"You asked!"

Their laughter slowly died down and they went back to starring into space.

"You know I can't though, don't you?"

"Yeah, I know," Jonathan responded. Of course he know, he'd been the one to take her into hospital and wait all night to see her again after her attack.

"Why did you ask?" Alexa's voice snapped him out of the flashback.

Jonathan didn't respond for a minute.

"Is it about Evan?"

Jonathan was still silent, he felt something rising in his throat again and he thought he was about to cry. Hearing Evan's name come out of Alexa just made him angry. Not because he'd seen them together, not because he hated Evan. It just felt as if nothing he did to get away from him, from Evan, from that gorgeous human being he had dreamt of for years and wished was in his bed next to him whispering his name. Then Jonathan tasted the rotten alcohol on the back of his tongue. It wasn't tears.

Jonathan lurched forward and buried his face into the toilet again while Alexa stroked his back comfortingly. Although he was preoccupied by being sick, Jonathan still heard Alexa's words.

"You know sex won't change anything. It didn't change our feelings towards each other. All it would do for us - for you - is make life more complicated."

Jonathan sat back on his heels, breathing hard. Alexa turned him gently so he faced her and took another sheet of toilet paper and wiped the corners of his lips slowly. Jonathan starred at her; she was beautiful, from her short brown hair to her perfect lips to her B cup boobs to her thin waist. Yeah, they had been a thing when she first met him. They had both been interested and Jonathan needed someone to get Evan out of his heads at night. He felt guilty for using her like he did, but he ended up not breaking her heart. She broke up with him, if you can call it breaking up. Alexa had always been stronger than Jonathan, hardened in the flames of the fire that took old Alexa away. Yet, the one sitting in front of him cleaning his mouth of with nothing but sympathy and wisdom, was almost like the old Alexa. Maybe he could love her again.

She caught his stare, and held it.

"Jonathan. Stop."

"Huh?"

"Staring at me like that."

Jonathan frowned, and she rocked back on her knees with a sigh.

"You're thinking about me like this because you're hurt. Hurt that Evan pushed you away like he did, hurt that Evan didn't push his girlfriend of three years away, hurt that Evan was flirting with me probably."

He frowned.

"We were a thing, okay? I like to think we were. And it was easy too; we were the last resort for each other when we needed a way out. You because of Evan, and me because of my family life. We were easy."

Jonathan held her gaze defiantly, but was starting to think maybe she was right.

"When we finished it off, when I came home from the hospital, I told you I never wanted to be with anyone else again, and I stand by that. You mean the world to me, but I'm not interested in you like that."

Jonathan looked away.

"You need to stop hurting yourself, J. Evan wants you back, desperately. I'll be the first to say it was a shitty thing he did to you, but he almost shot his girlfriend trying to get you back, and all you did was say 'good job.' I bet that stung."

"Why are you defending him?" Jonathan rasped, his voice weak from sick.

"Because believe it or not Evan is just as vulnerable and scared as we are. He puts up a tough attitude, but I bet money he's terrified. Not just of admitting he is gay, but of the possibility of loosing you."

Jonathan's head lowered as he listened to his best friend. She was right, as usual.

"You remember what Lui said the other night. What happens when you are looking at the person you've loved all your life and you're still just his good friend? I don't think it was just Lui having that thought."

Jonathan was silent, contemplating that, then he looked back up at her. "What if it's you I'm looking at, though?"

Alexa smiled sympathetically. "I'm never going to go down without a fight. And besides, we've been through so much together now, I feel like becoming boyfriend/girlfriend would be taking a step back."

Jonathan thought for a second, and nodded.

Alexa was silent too, and then scoffed. "If you hadn't just puked your guts up, I would kiss you, because even though you're a fucking idiot, I still love you."

Jonathan smiled and looked back up at her again.

"I love you too."

Alexa wrapped Jonathan up into a hug, both sitting on the cold floor of the bathroom smiling stupidly. Okay, so maybe they were never going to be what they used to be, but Jonathan was just happy he had Alexa.

"You haven't heard from your family, have you?" Jonathan asked after a minute.

"No," Alexa sighed, her chest deflating against Jonathan's.

"Have you heard from your sister?"

"No," Jonathan sighed as well.

Jonathan pulled away and threw the pieces of paper Alexa used to clean him up a little into the toilet. Don't think about your sister, or your mother.

Alexa scrunched her nose and gagged.

"Okay I'm just gonna go because this place smells awful and I'll throw up again. Plus this is getting way to hetero for my taste right now," Alexa said and he snickered. She stood up and offered a hand to Jonathan to help him. Jonathan was still a little wobbly, but as he left the bathroom with Alexa's help, the clean air made him feel better.

"So do yourself a favor, Jonathan," Alexa turned to him, whispering gently. "Go wake up Evan, go talk to him. Try and figure out whatever is going on between you guys, please?"

Jonathan frowned at her, not responding.

Alexa rolled her eyes. "I'm not asking you, I'm telling you. Go sort it out."

"What if I legitimately don't want to? What if I don't love him anymore?"

"I know you, and you can't fall out of love that fast," she hissed softly.

"What if I just was never in love, huh?"

"Don't give me that bullshit, Jonathan Smith." The use of his full name caught Jonathan off guard. She hadn't used that on him in months, certainly not recently.

"I've known you for a long time. We've lived together for quite a long time. You were there for me when I needed you, and I'm here for you now. So go open his fucking door, wake him up, and talk to him."

Jonathan still didn't move, pouting at Alexa. He just wanted to go to bed, wake up the next morning, and move on. He didn't want to love Evan anymore, he was over it.

After a minute of glaring at each other, Alexa let go of him, backing up and raising her hands in defeat. She was still annoyed, but smiled anyway.

"Okay, fine, you win. You don't fix anything. Go to bed, I'll see you tomorrow."

With that, Alexa turned and walked back to her room, closing it with a finality. He heard floor boards creak slightly inside as she probably fell onto her mattress and passed out. Jonathan sighed. Yeah okay, maybe he was just projecting his feelings for Evan onto Alexa, and maybe that was what Evan was doing too. But he couldn't go and talk to Evan now. If he talked now, everything would come spilling out, not just more vomit; everything from watching his first video and the double meaning behind his first message to him, to the rush of attraction and emotions he developed for him very early on, to the heartache when he announced he and Sydney were a thing, to the sly nights of imagining he wasn't alone but laying next to him. Everything secret would come out too, not just his history with Evan, but before the Renegades. How he and Alexa first met, scared and crying looking for help, how she helped him when his parents cut him off from all funding, when she was raped and burned down the fraternity, when Jonathan's mother was hospitalized and later died after a car nasty crash and no one would return his calls, not even his sister.

Jonathan couldn't talk to Evan. He didn't want Evan's sympathy, Evan's hugs, Evan's reassurance. He wanted to be cold, to not feel emotions or love, he wanted to be Alexa who rejected anyone and everyone she could ever love and had ever loved without blinking an eye.

He looked towards Evan's door, and noticed it was open a crack, not fully closed. It would be easy to just walk in, wake him up, and just spill everything, but if he spilled he would never be able to take it back. And if Evan got hurt in this shit fest going on around them, or worse…

Jonathan turned away and headed back to his room, closing the door with a finality, and falling down onto his cot with a flop and a groan.

Fuck being in love. Fuck Alexa for being right. Fuck Evan for being the source of his problems, and especially fuck Renegades for destroying his life. If it hadn't been for the goddamn program, he wouldn't be in this situation right now.


	8. Chapter 18 - Kissable

Craig's fist smacked into the punching bag again, sending it swinging. His leg caught it, and spun it again in a horizontal ark, then another punch, then another kick, then another punch.

He'd gotten up early and decided to work off his hangover after breakfast, and it was working. Besides, punching gave him time to think. Each sharp hit of flesh on leather sent jolts of adrenaline through his body, and his head would be working over time thinking and planning and prepping himself and his body for another fight.

What was he thinking about? Craig always had something to think about, but as his punches slowed down and finally he caught the bag and stilled it, he realized he'd spent an hour and a half thinking of nothing, just hitting.

Craig's breath was heavy as he chugged his third water bottle, small droplets of water dribbling out the side of his mouth which he wiped off with the back of his bandaged hands. He caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror, and froze.

Before Renegades, Craig had been muscular, but now, it was defined. His arm muscles rippled, and his bare chest was developing a tidy six pack. Everyone was getting stronger, and it was noticeable. Even last night, Craig had noticed how easy it was to swing around a baseball bat weighed down with metal almost a third his size. And last night Craig had noticed how strong Tyler was too, when his arm fell around his shoulders in the VIP lounge, when they danced side by side on the dance floor, when he -

Craig tore his eyes away. Don't think about it. It was nothing. He had been drunk, and Tyler had been drunk. It was nothing, absolutely nothing. Every word was nothing, every look was nothing, every motion of Tyler bending down or Craig standing on his toes so they could reach each other -

He swung, hard, a rapid fire of punches at the punching bag grouped into sets of eight, broken by kicks. Fight through it, don't think, don't think about that night, don't think about Tyler, don't think about last night, just punch.

And then he missed.

Craig stumbled past the punching bag and hit the wall, his palms cushioning his impact so he wouldn't hurt anything, except his pride. Craig rested his head on the wall and breathed hard. Nothing he could do could block out Tyler, the way he had looked at him, the way he had touched him, the way he had -

He scrunched his eyes up in an attempt to block the wave of memories from him Tyler's days together but it was too late. Craig remembered the first time they played together, how Tyler's loud voice and dirty jokes had made him blush initially. Craig remembered the first time he and Tyler Skyped with their cameras on, how different Tyler had looked compared to what Craig initially thought he looked like, and how taken aback he was by how beautiful he looked. Craig remembered the first time he actually quiet a game because Tyler was being such a jackass, but Tyler instantly called him up and spent thirty minutes apologizing and then spent the next two hours on the phone to him. Craig remembered the first time they hung out in person, then the PAX panel and the stupid stuffed pig, then the -

He hadn't heard the two boys walk in until he heard someone say his name.

"Craig?"

In response, Craig whipped around and readied his fists.

Brian and Brock had stumbled back, stunned. Brian had probably approached him in an attempt to comfort him, because he was now pressed against Brock's chest with his hands out and splayed to catch his fists if he swung. But Craig never did. Craig froze when he saw the terror on their faces, and he straightened up, lowering his fists and sniffing hard.

Craig tried to laugh it off. "Early morning workouts. Still got sleep in my eye too." He rubbed his eyes, faking sleepiness, before turning back to the punching back and lightly jumping before taking his first swing. He knew he had to get back in control, he couldn't loose it again.

Brock left, murmuring something in Brian's ear, and Brian remained standing where he'd left him, watching Craig punch. He felt his presence move after a few swings, so that he was standing beside him and leaning against the wall, watching him.

He steadied the bag before turning to look at Brian, not amused.

"I'm training?"

"You're crying."

"Easy to confuse," Craig turned back to the bag and swung, angrily.

"I've seen you when you're focused, and you are not focused."

"I would be if you stopped talking to me."

"Mini."

Craig punched hard, the bag hitting the wall behind it and swinging swiftly back. Why did he have to go and use that name? None of them used their YouTube names anymore, it was always their real names. Using their "working names" while on a heist would be bad publicity anyway.

"You can't keep everything locked up," Brian egged.

"I'm not keeping anything locked up."

"And you're not good at lying."

Again the bag hit the back wall, this time leaving a mark.

"Leave me alone Brian."

"How about no?"

"How about please?" And with that Craig swung hard, the bag suddenly coming unhooked from the ceiling above and landing hard on the ground with a smack. The two starred at it, Craig breathing hard, furious and shocked at the same time. Then Brian looked up again.

"Still gonna say nothing is wrong?"

Craig didn't move. Craig could feel tears welling up in his eyes again, hot and painful. He sniffed again, but turned his head away and moved to pick up the punching bag and hang it back up, but it was heavier than he expected and he couldn't lift it. Brian didn't make a move to help.

"A little help would be nice Bri!"

Brian didn't move.

"Brian!" Craig was more than angry now; he could feel the tears starting to squeeze out.

Still nothing.

"Stop fucking starring at me and help me dammit you bloody fucking Irish prick!" And with that Craig slumped down onto the floor, his arms resting on the tops of his knees with tears running down his cheeks. Fuck this.

Brian still didn't move from his standing position, he just sighed sympathetically.

"What's going on in your head, buddy?" Brian sounded more resigned than anything else, as if he'd been trying to get through to him for years.

Craig looked up into the face of his best friend. Brian's usually mischievous eyes were soft and warm, even though he kept a distance from him. His lips were drawn into a thin, worried line and his brow was knit into a look of thoughtfulness only Brian could do. Craig wanted to tell him, but when he opened his mouth his voice didn't work and he just sat there, with the threat of a sob shaking his body.

"I…" Craig started, but stopped when he felt his voice starting to crack. He swallowed hard, trying to control himself before speaking again, not looking at Brian in case he broke down.

"I kissed Tyler last night."

Brian sucked in air. "Wow…I didn't think you guys would do it."

"He doesn't remember it."

Brian was silent. "How do you know?"

"I was already up and having breakfast when he woke up. He acted as if nothing had happened between us. Said he couldn't remember anything."

"Oh fuck dude…"

"He asked if he kissed anyone, and I said no, and then he thanked me for making sure he didn't hook up with anyone."

"Fuck, Craig…" nothing but sympathy.

Craig didn't want to hear his sympathetic words. He kicked the punching bag with the sole of his foot before bringing his knees up and wrapping his arms around them.

"He doesn't remember anything of last night," Craig's voice cracked, and the first sob hit him like a wave hitting a pebble. Everything inside him snapped, and Craig tightened his grip around his knees bracing himself. He hated when he cried; it made him feel weak, especially since he was one of the youngest and smallest of the group. Craig didn't want to be the baby of the group, and crying was only making everything worse.

Brian, as soon as he realized Craig was crying, squatted onto his knees on the floor and rubbed his back soothingly, saying nothing. Craig tried to swat at him, but it did little and he was too tired and sad to fight him. Brian didn't say anything, he just sat squatted on the floor rubbing his friend's back and listening to the sounds of Craig's broken heart. He did speak eventually, but it wasn't until Craig had almost stopped crying and I was hiccuping lightly.

"Are you going to tell him?"

Craig tried to take several deep breathes, calming himself, but his voice still rose sharply with each hiccup. "Why should - I? I'm not - that important if he - doesn't remember - kissing me."

"Craig you are so fucking important don't ever think that!" Brian cooed. Craig couldn't look at his face without crying again, he knew it.

"Not to - Tyler."

"Then Tyler doesn't know what he's missing out on."

Craig did look up at his friend now, his usually suave brown hair was messy and looked like he'd slept on it funny. His lively brown eyes were close to tears as well, and his dark blue shirt was maybe a size to large for him, probably Brock's.

"Craig, I've known you for a long time. Don't you ever dare think you are not as special or as important or anything less than perfect! If Tyler can't see how amazing you are, then he doesn't deserve you! If Tyler forgot probably the greatest kiss of his life, fuck him!"

Craig was silent, controlling his breathing for several long seconds. Then he started to smirk. "That was the idea…"

Brian punched his arm. "You dirty little British slut I'm trying to be inspirational and shit and you're out here being fucking sarcastic."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry…" Craig rolled his eyes. Of course Brian could cheer him up. Of course Brian knew what to say. Brian always knew what to say, how to make him laugh, how to not give a shit about anything else happening, how to just calm down and step back. He'd always been good at it.

"I can't face Tyler though…not after that conversation…"

"I feel that. How's this: if you feel the need to punch him, go upstairs and hit a pillow or beat up the boxing bag again," Brian nodded to the bag on the floor. "If Tyler mentions last night, bite into a lemon. If Tyler says anything, ANYTHING, about being happy he didn't hook up with anyone last night, I'll hold his arms behind his back while you punch him straight in the mouth."

Craig laughed. "Pretty fucking drastic change, don't you think?"

Brian shrugged. "I mean, there's only so much nonviolent shit you can do that will feel good while doing it. And with you did to that bag, you need violence to get over this."

Craig sighed, nodding. Brian was right; it had felt fantastic while Craig was hitting, and now his fists ached. He wanted to either get back to the bag or get some ice. Brian read his expression and nodded, standing up. "Let's get you some ice."

David was not going to wake up this morning, he decided that last night. He was going to sleep peacefully and quietly in his own room, not be disturbed by anyone, until maybe two. Then he would take some aspirin and some coffee, and then maybe watch some Netflix or something. It was going to be a peaceful day.

However, the sudden shouting, fleshy smack of skin and skin, and the swearing match that followed promised David no more sleep.

David lurched out of the bed, only bothering to throw on some sweat pants before bolting out the door and down the stairs, followed by Evan and Jonathan and Lui. At the foot of the stairs, David was met by Alexa, who was coming out of the bathroom just as confused as he and rest were.

"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT ABOUT YOU FUCKING ASSHATS?"

David hit the doorframe of the kitchen as he skidded to a halt and took in the scene. Brian and Brock were holding Tyler's arms behind his back, or at least trying too, while Craig stood in front of him, fist still clenched from a hard punch aimed at Tyler. Tyler had a bright red bruise showing up on the left check just under his eye. A carton of milk was left out on the side, half eaten toast on the table, and coffee mugs scattered around the kitchen. A bag of frozen pees was also lying on the floor. All four of them were glaring at one another and screaming at the top of their lungs.

"WHY DO YOU HAVE TO BE SUCH A FUCKING JERK?" Craig yelled.

"FUCKING TITTS WHY'D YOU PUNCH ME? GET THE FUCK OFF ME YOU FUCKING SHIT STICKS!" Tyler struggled with the tight grip of Brock and Brian, both glaring.

"WHAT IS THE BIG FUCKING IDEA WITH YOU GUYS, HUH?"

"YOU ARE SUCH AN ASSHOLE, TYLER," Brian cut in. "DON'T FUCKING HURT MY FRIEND LIKE THAT MOTHERFUCKER."

"WHAT THE FUCK DID I DO TO CRAIG?"

"YOU FUCKING KISSED HIM TO IGNORANT-"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Evan pushed past David and got between the fight. Pushing Craig away with one hand and into Jonathan and Lui's arms, both grabbing one of Craig's and holding him back while Evan pushed Brian and Brock off, keeping one hand firmly planted on Tyler's chest. Tyler didn't move, he simply stood still, limp almost, starring at Craig with disbelief and confusion in his eyes. Brian and Brock glared at Tyler and Evan. Craig looked ready to spit fire.

"You guys are fucking friends, house mates, and team mates. Act like it! We are not having someone die in this fucking household, you understand?"

Silence.

"I know living together is stressful, I know it's a pain in the ass, but I'm not having ANYONE pick fights with another member of this gang, is that clear?"

There was a light grumble from everyone, and Evan nodded. Craig was let go, and Brian and Brock shot Evan a dirty look before Brian moved to sit back down at the table and Brock went back to putting milk in his cereal. Craig sat back down at the table, chomping on his toast.

"I don't give a flying fuck who started this, either the punching or the drama that caused the punching, but next time any of you pulls a stunt like this, I'm not letting you guys off easy." Evan warned the boys, before coming back out the door hissing "Watch them for me," to David and the others at the door. They nodded, and Evan went back upstairs.

Tyler was still standing, starring at the floor utterly confused and hurt. After a few seconds, he too left the kitchen and moved quickly towards his room. David heard the door slam shut and lock, and a quick glance at Brian and Brock told David all he needed to know.

Tyler and Craig had kissed last night, but Tyler didn't remember it. Craig was probably hurt and Brian and Brock promised to hold Tyler down if he said anything mean. Tyler said something mean, and now David is going to have to treat Tyler for the bruise.

However, David was still impresses that Tyler and Craig actually had the courage to kiss each other, drunk or not. Envied was probably the right word, though.


	9. Chapter 19 - Fun and Games

The next heist was simple, but also fucking insane. When David and everyone else sat down in the living room to hear out the plan Jonathan and Evan had concocted, he knew right away how risky this would be.

Mr. Fullerton-Sax was a big investor, and his banks across the Los Angeles area were known to be big money pools. Which is why his banks also have top of the line security ranging from guards in every room, security cameras in every corner, thick steel vault doors, sarin nerve gas, automated machine guns, and a constantly changing password security system.

Then came the real kicker. Evan wanted to hit up two banks at the same time; that meant splitting up into two groups without a hope of backup.

"Are you fucking insane, man?" David cried out with everyone else. Evan knew he was asking a lot, and it showed how awkward and embarrassed he felt for asking this of them. This was suicidal, and the chance of them making it out alive was slim.

"Fullerton-Sax is guarded by Renegades and you know it, and even if they aren't and we magically make it through the sarin gas, the machine guns, the security system, and the foot and a half thick walls of steel, we'll die from those guys!" came Craig's displeased voice.

"Bombs aren't gonna work on those doors either," Brian added.

"That's why we are upgrading our equipment," Evan interjected.

Lui got up and moved to stand between Evan and Jonathan in front of everyone. He lifted up his left shoulder sleeve to reveal an arm band of fuzzy fabric.

"This is part of our knew tech," Lui began, working the band off as he spoke. "It's a workout bracelet I reworked and fitted with tin foil sheets inside. It works as both a stylish little arm band, is fully machine washable, and most importantly," Lui paused for the dramatic effect with a smirk and glint in his eye, "it stops all forms of tracking that use our bar codes."

Silence. They all knew what that meant. It was over two weeks now since their run-in with the Purple Dragon Renegade crew, and after that more and more groups started to find them: Evan, Tyler, and Alexa had been cornered by a gang of six while out on a reconnaissance mission. Lui and David had been jumped by a group of eight while out an electronics store. David was happy they escaped with only a gun shot wound in his arm. These attacks were becoming more frequent, and they needed an extra layer of protection. These bands would fix that.

"I'm almost finished with our surveillance and tracking system too, just waiting on Luke for those last parts," Lui added, speaking to Jonathan who nodded and smiled at him. Lui had been working on that since pretty much since day one. Both of them had decided to use the closet by the front door as their big surveillance system, where they could track rival Renegades within a fifty mile radius and also track themselves. They were setting up cameras within a mile radius around them incase of unwanted visitors.

Lui sat back down next to David, and handed him his bracelet.

"I call it a Blocker," he hissed, and David smiled. Appropriate.

Evan continued to layout the plan.

"The two banks we would hit are not too far away, so there is a possibility of back up if it is really needed. The first one is here near UCLA," Evan pointed a finger the TV screen light up with a Google Map. They had linked up Evan's laptop to the TV to show what they would be doing. "And the other bank is here by the Santa Monica Pier," again Evan pointed, then he turned back to the group, his face stern. "You call for backup only if you are trapped, or if someone is badly hurt. Even if we only manage to rob one bank, we still need to succeed. If we fail on this mission, we're fucked. Now, the teams."

Jonathan stepped in. "We will have one group of four, and one group of five. Four will be going to UCLA, which has a more difficult security system, and five will be going to Santa Monica, which has a higher guard count. I'm heading the group of four, and I'm taking Lui, Brian, and Tyler. Evan is heading the group of five, and he's taking David, Alexa, Craig, and Brock."

Mutters rose up from the group and Jonathan sighed awkwardly.

"I know it isn't the most preferable grouping, but we've chosen the groups based on what is needed for each bank. We can't afford to be picky," Jonathan explained. "And if we do well, there is no chance of a fuck up."

"David is going with the big group, what happens if the small group runs into trouble?" Brock asked, concerned.

Jonathan nodded. "I'm CPR certified and know enough basic first-aid to help any of us, plus, I know a lot about the Sarin gas we will be exposed to if we slip up. David does too; we're gonna be fine," Jonathan reassured.

"The Sarin gas is what you have to watch out for the most," Alexa interjected. She was curled up in the arm chair she'd sat in on the first night. "Roughly, this heist should take forty-five minutes to an hour. With that amount of exposure to Sarin gas, you're going to have some nasty side effects. That's where I come in," she spoke, uncurling herself and standing up. She reached and looked at Craig, who tossed her a plastic bag withs something inside it. Alexa pulled out a denim jacket, stonewashed in color, but still fairly dark. It fit her nicely and as she spun, David saw the Renegade symbol painted onto the back, bright white. The group whooped and nodded with enthusiasm. It was awesome.

"Craig and I decided we need to make ourselves a force. With the video that circulated last time, we need to remind the program just how dangerous we are to them. So this jacket will not only act as torso, arm, and neck coverage from the gas, but also put the symbol of the program out there again. But a quick reminder," she warned. "Only wear those on a heist. We do not need to be spotted at a Trader Joe's wearing these bad boys, gotcha?"

The group nodded and she sat back down, tossing the jacket back to Craig.

"Both David and I will be equipped with water, talcum powder, and anything else we need for exposure to Sarin gas, bullet wounds, or anything else you guys can do to yourselves," Jonathan's joke got a few laughs, but the weight of what they were planning to do was way too heavy.

"We've got a lot of new gear coming our way from a friend outside of Renegades, so we are waiting on that shipment. Until then, Alexa is running bootcamp again this afternoon for specialized hand to hand combat. I want all the carriers and muscles in, but it's welcome to everyone. As of right now, we are planning on doing this heist shit next week, Wednesday midday. Low traffic and a lot of people. The usual applies, no killing without a bar code unless they attack you, get in and get out with no distractions, minimize damage to yourselves and maximize damage to the banks."

Evan who nodded and turned back to the group. Neither of the two had looked at each other the entire time.

"You're all good to go."

Complaints of mandatory bootcamp rippled through the group as they got up and stretched. David was heading out the door when he felt an arm grab his. When he turned, it was Lui and Alexa, both with wide eyes sparkling.

"You free tonight David?" Lui asked casually, a smirk spreading across he face.

David's stomach dropped and he moaned. "I'm scared," he dead panned.

"Don't be," Alexa assured, grinning.

They dragged David off to one side so they could talk without being interrupted or questioned. No one payed them any attention.

"We found a rival Renegade house a block over from us. Small, but there. I'm willing to bet money it's funded big time to take us out. So, we strike first."

David squinted at them.

"You want to go and shoot up a house a block away from us?"

"Yes." The said in unison.

"And what if police follow us?"

"You know they won't," Alexa replied.

"What if THEY follow us?"

"Who will follow us if there is no one to follow us?" Lui reasoned.

"Other Renegades will notice those guys disappear."

"So what?" Lui asked. He was right. It didn't matter if others noticed, it was probably what Lui wanted them to notice; the disappearance of a rival gang who set up shop too close. The perfect territory battle to establish their dominance.

"Okay, I'm in," David smiled as Lui and Alexa grinned excitedly.

"I'm in too," said another voice, making all three of them spin to look towards the door out into the hallway, and saw Craig leaning against it.

"More than likely they'll have gear we want, maybe instead of waiting on Jonathan's 'friend' we can scavenge a bit too. If that's the case, you'll need a carrier."

It was a point they couldn't deny. There would be plenty of food, weapons, ammo, armor, and medical supplies. This was a possibility none of them had thought of.

"Good point," Alexa nodded, and jerked her head for Craig to join in on their little circle. "So, operation Fun and Games," Alexa flashed a wild look of excitement to the group of three. David snorted, but he felt the building adrenaline too. This was going to be a lot of fun.

"Okay so I spy with my little eye something 'brown and sticky'."

"It isn't Hoodini, is it?" David had already used that joke several times tonight, and Lui was more than done with his shit.

"No…"

"It's not Tyler?" Craig asked.

David scoffed. "No…"

"Wait a minute-" Lui started to laugh. "It isn't the guy sitting on the toilet taking a shit and reading Playboy is it?"

"You got it!" David laughed.

"Oh my God you guys are fucking children."

All four of them were situated around the Renegade house, Lui and David set up with Kimber 8400 Tactical long ranged rifles equipped with silencers. The house was small, with lots of windows, making it easy for the small group to see in. It was also in the center a mini valley, so great hiding and targeting positions for Lui and David. Behind the house was a small court yard that served as a back garden. Bushes lining the fenced in space were the perfect hiding spots for Craig and Alexa. Inside the house, they had counted three guys and two girls hanging out, then another guy in the bathroom which David had just spotted. Alexa thought she'd seen lights on upstairs, but no one else had seen it. The game they were playing was pretty much eye spy, but since they all had different views of the house, it was also a guessing game.

"Are we all out of I spies?" Alexa asked after a couple seconds of silence.

"Unsure…" David replied, slowly, searching what he could see of the house with the telescopic sight on his gun. The big group of five were all spaced around the living room, dinning room, and kitchen area, not talking.

"Okay, we move in then. Snipers get your second round ready, Craig, we going in."

From his spot, David could see Alexa and Craig in their bushes loading up their weapons: Alexa with her Dual Beretta's and Craig with his PM 63 RAK.

And then a man walked into the his line of sight.

"Hold!" David hissed.

"Why?" Alexa whispered hoarsely.

"Young man, maybe about twenty? Brown hair, spiked like Evans, brown eyes, tan, one of those player smiles on his face. He's got a white button down and sweat pants. Pretty tall, but skinny. He's got his phone in his hand…" as David analyzed, he saw him address everyone else in the room. "Looks like the boss."

Alexa didn't respond. She was silent, unusually silent. David frowned.

"Alexa?"

Still no response. David took his eyes off the telescope and looked towards Alexa, an almost visible red haze around her. She was furious.

"Alexa, you okay?" Craig's voice hissed.

In response, Alexa stood up, guns pointed and firing into the window pane, shattering it as she walked steadily into the house.

"FIRE FIRE FIRE!" Craig screamed.

David didn't miss a second, his rifle firing through the window and hitting a girl at the bar smack in the head. He reloaded and aimed at another.

"Do you have visual on Alexa?" Lui asked, concerned as he dislocated the rifle from it's stand. They were moving in.

"I'd rather not bring back J's favorite girl in pieces," snapped Craig.

"I can respect that," David responded, kicking out the stand for his rifle and reloading it.

David skidded down the hill gently, turning himself sideways and positioned the butt of the gun to connect with the large window below him. The glass shattered easily, and David crouched, taking out the knees of the "brown and sticky" guy he'd spied earlier. The bullet went through his forehead, and the boy slumped to the floor. Looking back up, David could see Alexa shooting at someone behind the counter with Craig covering her.

Lui came skidding through the kitchen window, landing on top of whoever was behind the bar in there. After a short round of "what the fuck?" from both Lui and the guy, David heard the soft smack of skin and skin. Alexa ducked behind the bar, reloading her gun and looking up towards the top of the bar.

"ANDREW YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" She screamed.

In response, the other guy - Andrew - leaned over the top and shot. David ducked into the bathroom doorway to avoid being hit.

"I missed you too, babydoll," came Andrew's taunting reply as he shot round after round into the floor below.

Alexa scooted to the right tossing her out-of-ammo guns out of the way as she did. Alexa grabbed his hand holding the gun and yanked down, pulling "Andrew" over the top and onto the floor in front of her. She kicked his gun out of his hands and he swooped his legs, catching hers and falling her to the ground.

Andrew got to his knees and dove at her. Alexa caught him with the heel of her foot in his stomach and kicked hard, pushing him away and onto his back. She jumped to her feet and ran at him, dodging the first punch but the not the second. She stumbled but swung at his head. He caught her fist, then her other, and smirked.

"You're fucked now, babydoll."

She screamed with rage and smacked her head into his forehead, both stumbling back. It was then that Craig stepped in, aimed his gun, and shot. The bullet penetrated into Andrew's shoulder and with a "FUCK!" he sank to the floor. Craig dove around Alexa, still holding her head and cursing low, and used a zip tie on the Andrew's hands, pushing him to the floor in front of Alexa, who was now over her headache and looked pissed.

David took this opportunity to get to Lui, dodging around the three and into the kitchen. Lui was lying on the cold floor, mumbling something incoherently. David felt his heart skip as he saw the large cut above his left eyebrow, and gently leaned him against the back of the bar. His hand trembled as he pulled out his phone and switched on the flashlight.

"I thought you were dead," Alexa's voice smooth. David couldn't see her from behind the counter, but he didn't care. He was more concerned about watching Lui's pupil dilation.

"I have a way of disappointing people," Andrew responded with a short laugh.

"Trust me, I know. You the big boss around here?"

"Oh come on babydoll, you're supposed to be smart."

She was silent for a second.

"Funded then?" David looked up quickly. He could see the tops of her and Craig's heads, both standing in front of Andrew, who he couldn't see. David looked back at Lui, who was starting to focus now. David held up three fingers, a silent question.

"Three," came his hoarse whisper, and he coughed. No blood. He was fine.

"You guessed it," Andrew's snickery laugh made David sick.

"Where are the supplies?" Alexa's voice was still smooth. Why was she being so nice to him?

He sighed, then chuckled, amused. "I know you Alexa, even before you turned psycho. You're not gonna shoot me, you don't have the guts to shoot me."

"Oh, I'm not gonna shoot you," Alexa paused. "He is."

The gun shot went off, making both David and Lui jump. Lui's reflexes were fine. David stood up. Craig had sent a bullet into Andrew's knee, and was moving around to his back were he kept the gun readied and targeted. Andrew's forehead was beading with sweet and the blood from both his shoulder and his knee were staining his clothes.

"The next one goes in the sole of your foot if you don't tell me where the supplies are."

"FINE! There's a trap door underneath the staircase. You lift up the front five steps and there's a staircase leading down to the supplies room you fucking bitch."

Alexa looked at David, question in her eyes. David held out a hand for Lui, who took it, getting to his feet.

"You watch him, got it?" Lui nodded, and Craig handed her his gun.

"Don't you ever call me babydoll again," Alexa spat at Andrew as David and Craig left the room and entered into the hallway.

Craig lifted the staircase up easily, and the smaller steps leading down were there. Both he and David pulled out their phones and used the flashlight on them to guide them down the ten steps to a basement packed with wooden crates. On each crate was a laminated label reading things like "weapons," "ammunition," "medicine," "explosives," "tech," and so on.

"Christmas came early, boys," Craig breathed in amazement as the two stood at the foot of the staircase, grinning.

Of course they looked in the weapons box first.

David pulled out a beautiful set of dual pistols, Kimber 1911 Raptor pistols with leather holsters. They were balanced, amazingly well balanced, and as David removed one from its sleeve he felt the cool metal and fake-leather grip sink into his palm perfectly. He looked up at Craig just in time to see him flip a knife open. His eyes were huge.

"Spring Latch Butterfly Knife," he explained, flipping it open and shut several times. "I've wanted one of these for a long time, especially in gold," Craig drooled.

David laughed. "Your's now, mate."

"Damn fucking right it is," Craig agreed, tucking the knife into his pocket. "I'm not letting anyone near this beauty."

Each crate was filled with it's assigned load, and they managed to get each crate out to the two trucks they had brought. Once everything had been loaded up, Alexa ransacked the rooms upstairs, pulling out every clothing item she liked from the girls' closets and throwing them into the Channel duffel bags she had found. Lui also took all the laptops, phones, and charging cables he could.

Once the last storage crate was loaded up, Alexa slammed the van doors shut and cast David a look.

"Get Lui treated. Craig and I are following. I just need to take care of Andrew," she said, casting a glance over her shoulder and back at Craig, playing with his butterfly knife and leaning casually against the door frame.

"See you at home," David nodded, and started up the engine.

As they took off, David watched Alexa walk back towards the house. Craig's face knit into a frown as he asked her question. She brushed it off, and disappeared inside.

"Who is Andrew?" David asked. Lui turned to him, frowning slightly.

"Andrew was the guy she broke up with first night. She had always told me he was a nice guy, very considerate…" he trailed off. "He was one of the friends that helped her after her incident."

"Fuck…" David responded. "One of her own friends turned on her?"

Lui sighed. "No wonder she is who she is…"

David gripped the steering wheel. Yeah, it wasn't a surprise Alexa was so hard. After all, she had every reason to be with a life and a history like her's.


	10. Chapter 20 - A Little Privacy

"WOULD SOMEONE LIKE TO EXPLAIN TO ME HOW ALL OF MY UNDERWEAR HAS GONE MISSING IN THE PAST MONTH?" Lui was standing in the doorway of the kitchen, naked except for the towel around his waist, addressing the rest of the crew, all still in pajamas. Most of them were sat around the table eating pancakes - courtesy of Alexa - and drinking some kind of smoothie concoction Tyler had made. So when Lui came storming in with a small pink towel around his waist, the darkest face of fury, holding a pair of red underwear, Evan couldn't help but spit his drink.

Brock who was sitting across, shouted at him as the drink almost landed on his pancakes, but continued to laugh with the rest. Almost three months now, that was how long they had been living together, and no one could remember whose clothes were whose. Evan was pretty sure he'd been wearing David's underwear for the last few days, just because he KNEW he didn't own any white boxers.

"It could be worse Lui!" Alexa shouted, still choking on her smoothie. Her bare feet were kicked up on the back of Tyler's chair who was sitting on her left. "You could be wearing my thongs!"

A chorus of "ews" went around the table followed by an indignant cry from Alexa of "oh come off it guys most of you have seen thongs before, grow a pair!" before Lui interjected again.

"I know we're all friends here, but I don't own briefs like these!" he waved the bright red briefs around in the air, getting another round of laughter. Evan wondered if those were his, since he'd brought pair like those with him to LA.

"Lui you've been wearing my shirt for the past two days, get over it!" Craig laughed, then got a face full of red underwear as Lui stormed out of the kitchen and back to the shower, muttering about the "God damn house," and wishing for some "God damn privacy."

Craig balled them up and threw them out the kitchen again before going back to his meal.

"I mean honestly, I have no idea whose shirt this is right now," Jonathan laughed, pulling at his. It was a PAXSouth shirt, and was way too big for him. Brock laughed and snapped his fingers, as if telling him to hand it over.

"Probably mine, sorry."

"And that's probably mine," Jonathan laughed, nodding at the black shirt with red claw marks down the front which was a little too tight for Brock. The two shrugged off the shirts, passing them across the table and put them on.

"Well if that wasn't the gayest thing I've seen today, I don't know what is," Tyler mumbled into his cup, and the laughter started back up. Jonathan and Brock flipped Tyler the bird, before breaking out into more laughter.

It was almost impossible to guess from how friendly and easy the conversation was going, but today was Wednesday, the day of the big heist. Evan was going to put the heist off a few extra days to wait for their outside-of-renegades supplier - Luke - to get all of the new gear. However, new equipment Lui, David, Craig, and Alexa had "found" on their doorstep one morning pushed the big day back to it's original date. Evan hadn't pressed them to find out where it came from.

Now, the house was a fortress. The entire place had been wired with cameras surrounding the perimeter of the land as well as a mile radius around it. A small gun range had been set up out back, and the wine cellar had been converted from a wine cellar into a bunker, fully stocked with racks upon racks of weapons, ammo, meds, tinned food, and sleeping bags, as well as a nice new heavy door for the wine cellar, painted to look wooden - thanks Luke - with a not so nice lock. The lock was temporary, as Lui had plans on taking apart the bank's security system and copying their files for their own use. He also wanted a couple cans of nerve gas, which Brian and Brock had volunteered to get from both banks.

Evan soon finished his breakfast, cleaning up the plates the others had left or finished with and were too lazy to get up yet and moving them to the sink. He planned to do the dishes after he was washed and dressed, since he wanted first dibs on the shower, which he got. The upstairs bathroom was pretty large, a bathtub in a corner of the room, a frosted glass shower Evan was standing in, and a small closet lavatory next to it. In front of the shower was two sinks and a storage cabinet filled with everything from tampons to spare hand towels.

Evan loved cold showers. It was weird, yeah, but it reminded him of Canada and of his ice hokey days. Cold baths filled with ice to relax tight muscles, Evan had always loved those.

And now, standing in the center of the icy shower with the bathroom all to himself and his thoughts, Evan smiled. A small bit of the past, now almost a distant memory. As the days had gone on, Evan was finding it harder and harder to remember a time when he wasn't a Renegade. Living with these crazy guys was so much fun, and Evan enjoyed every second of it. Sure his knuckles were calloused, his body bruised, his ears were shot from the number of times he'd fired a gun, and his YouTube account was skyrocketing with the number of videos and streams he was doing with his friends. This was all great, but Evan just enjoyed living with his bestest friends.

A loud banging interrupted his thoughts. "I'm in the shower!"

"Okay that's great for you, but you share this house with eight other people jackass!"

Evan sighed. Alexa.

"Fine! The door is unlocked."

Sure enough, it opened, and Evan heard more than one person walk in.

"I don't need to shave my legs for a heist, do I?" Alexa asked, dumping her toiletries into the counter.

"Doubt it. Unless you were planning on robbing a bank in a skirt," Lui giggled.

"Can you imagine if I did that?" Alexa laughed.

"I need to take a shit," Jonathan informed, as the small closet with the toilet inside closed.

"USE THE FEBREEZE!" Lui and Alexa shouted in unison.

"Guys I'm fucking naked!" Evan protested.

"Evan you're not that impressive," Jonathan called from the toilet, making the two at the sink snicker.

"And how would you know that J?" Evan teased, turning off the shower and reaching for his towel.

"Cause you over compensate all the time!"

"And you're Asian!" Lui added.

Evan stepped out of the shower, holding back a laugh.

Jonathan's famous laugh echoed from the closet. Evan rolled his eyes and opened the storage cabinet, picking out a second towel to rub down his hair. When he finished, Evan looked in the horizontal mirror spanning the sinks; his hair was longer than ever before, looking a bit like Brian's hair now, and he liked it. Plus, if he gelled it to a spike he would look like his GTA V character, and it was all and his friends could do to keep the fact that their lives were so similar to a GTA mission now far from their minds.

Alexa was trying to catch his eye, a toothbrush in her mouth.

Evan met her eyes and frowned a silent "what?" She rolled hers and jerked her head towards the toilet closet, where Jonathan was.

Evan shock his head slowly. No way in hell was he actually gonna talk to him.

Alexa groaned and Lui looked up from the sink, glancing between the two momentarily before getting it. He spat into the sink before looking at Evan with a "serious bro?" look. Evan snarled and threw the towel into the laundry basket before changing the subject.

"Not showering 'Lexa?"

"Nah. I'll shower when I get back," she responded, rubbing the vaseline up her arm. Lui rubbed his fingers in the pot too and rubbed it over his hands.

"Can I take some?" Evan asked, reaching his hand out to the pot. Alexa nudged it out of the way, and Evan turned his eyes ready to glare only to find her already glaring at him.

"Remember," she hissed low and under her breath. "You started this shit, not him. Least you can do - especially with such risks involved in this heist - is say you're sorry," and she moved the pot back towards Evan before returning to rubbing vaseline over herself.

Evan as he rubbed vaseline on his hands. He hadn't started it, it was Jonathan who had been unreasonable. He was out of control flirting with him, so when Evan asked him to back off, he blew up. When Evan tried to apologize, Jonathan attacked him. And now, Jonathan was just being a jackass and flirting with everyone to get back at him; why else would he just switch shirts with Brock like that over breakfast?

The toilet flushed, the Febreeze can spray came from the closet, and Jonathan came backing up out of it, still spraying. The three watched him, unamused, as he finished spraying, dropped the can back inside by the door, and closed it, turning to look at them and grin sheepishly.

"I used the Febreeze!" He protested, and started to take his shirt off. "And now I'm gonna shower."

"And now the entire place is going to smell worse than Alexa's perfume," Lui groaned, then giggled when she punched him.

Alexa slid the vaseline pot to Evan, saying "We're going to gear up. See you guys downstairs," and she and Lui left swiftly, closing the door behind them.

Evan watched them leave before turning to look at Jonathan, who was standing with his shirt still wrapped around his arms, his chest exposed, starring at the closed door. He caught Evan starring.

He said nothing, just turned to face away from him, and continued to pull his shirt off and dropped it in a heap by the shower. Jonathan undid the string holding up his heather gray sweatpants, but he did it slowly, knowing that Evan was watching him. Evan didn't even realize how hard he was breathing until the silence was broken by a gunshot outside, making both of them jump and turn towards the door. Distant laughter soon followed, and the two boys relaxed and Jonathan finally spoke.

"I'm not giving you a striptease, dude."

Evan snorted and ran a hand through his hair. "Wasn't expecting you to."

Silence. Evan felt himself reddening under Jonathan's eyes.

"Look, Jonathan, can we talk about this?"

"Talk about what? The fact that you're bipolar as fuck or that you want to fuck my best friend?" Jonathan's words were cold, and Evan felt himself flinch slightly.

"Don't be so hostile. You're the big flirt around her, not me."

"The big flirt?" Jonathan asked, frowning and crossing his arms over his pale chest. He squinted at Evan. "And how am I a big flirt?"

"Were you not there when you just stripped and switched shirts with Brock?"

"Is that really what you're hung up on?" Jonathan rolled his eyes and blew air out the side of his mouth dismissively, advancing. "You know Brock is my friend too, right?" Jonathan stepped towards Evan, pushing himself close to Evan's face despite his being shorter.

"And you're not the boss of me, Ev," Jonathan hissed, low and threateningly.

The two glared at each other for a moment, and then Evan smirked. He could see Jonathan's confusion spread slowly across his face.

"Yes I am, J. Don't you remember?" Evan brought one hand to Jonathan's shoulder and pushed him back, moving with him until he pressed the other man against the door to the shower. Jonathan gasped slightly as the shower door, still ice cold from the freezing shower Evan had taken earlier, met his bare back.

"You put me in charge of the group, so I'm going to exercise my authority right here, right now," Evan's voice was low and raspy as he smirked down at the shorter man. Jonathan's eyes never left his and Evan loved the helpless look in his eyes. Evan loved how his lips were parted in slight fear.

Then Evan did something he was not prepared for: he leaned closer to Jonathan, still smirking as he tilted the other's head and brushed his lips against Jonathan's, feeling the other man's breathing catch as he realized what Evan was doing. Evan didn't move, both men too stubborn to cave first and kiss the other. However, Evan lost and pressed down on Jonathan's lips, unable to hold back any longer and locking his lips with his in a rush of lust.

Jonathan tasted like maple syrup, and as Evan slid his tongue into Jonathan's mouth, the taste became even stronger. Evan's hand moved to behind Jonathan's head and pushed him closer to him as Jonathan kissed him back, their tongues tussling. It was a violent kiss, a lot more violent than either man would of wanted for their first kiss with each other, but neither was about to stop.

Jonathan's arms wrapped around the back of his neck, one hand running through his hair and grabbing a tuft while the other carved scratches into his back. Evan moaned in pain and pleasure against Jonathan's lips, pressing his body against Jonathan's and feeling his towel slipping away from around him, only staying in place where there bodies connected. The violent kiss was only broken when Jonathan jerked his head up and away from Evan's torturously good lips, a trail of saliva connecting them as both panted for air. Jonathan gasped, breathing hard and Evan felt Jonathan's heart beating hard and fast against his own chest.

Evan took this chance to sink his teeth into Jonathan's neck, and the other man cried out. He grabbed Evan's back, racking more nail scratches into him, and whimpering as Evan's moans of pain vibrated against Jonathan's sensitive neck skin. Evan's hand skirted Jonathan's side, reaching his hips and hooking his leg in his hand, pulling it up to rest on his hips. Jonathan got the idea, and happily hooked the other one around him too, so that the only thing keeping Jonathan from falling now was Evan's pelvis crushing into his own. The amount of fucking friction Evan felt between the towel and Jonathan's sweatpants was unreal, and as Jonathan sank his own teeth into Evan's collarbone, Evan groaned and thrust his hips upward, making Jonathan bounce on him.

Their heads were pressed together, looking down at each other and watching Evan roll his hips upwards and Jonathan press himself harder against Evan in time with his thrusts. It was hot, it was heavy, and every now and then one of them bit an ear, a lip, or a neck, peppering each other with pleasurable bruises. Sweat from both men were dripping and mixing with each other, until the cold shower Evan had had earlier was a distant memory and the only thing he could remember was Jonathan. His memory was hazy, and all he wanted was to take Jonathan right here, right now. Evan was in ecstasy, and seeing and feeling Jonathan like this was far beyond what he could of imagined, and he never wanted this to end.

But the door opened.

"Jonathan, you almost done? We need to split up the med-" David stopped dead in his tracks, not moving and starring wide eyed at the two men scraped and bruised from their violent kiss.

Slowly, Evan dropped Jonathan down to the floor, grabbing his towel so it wouldn't fall away from his groin. Jonathan stepped away from Evan slightly, not looking at either man and just starring, face redder than red, at the floor. Evan felt his own blush spreading over his ears as David surveyed the two men.

"Okay…" David spoke slowly, as if reasoning with a rabid bear. "I'm just going to go…um…sorry…I won't tell anyone…yeah…bye," and he slowly backed out, closing the door gingerly behind him and tip toeing away.

Silence. Excruciating silence. Blood was still rushing in Evan's ears and as he turned back to Jonathan he already knew he needed to be left alone.

"I'm-"

"I'll wash when I get back," Jonathan cut him off, grabbing his shirt as he rushed towards the door.

"Jonathan, wait!"

The door closed and Evan could hear Jonathan's bare feet practically sprinting back to his own room.

Evan sighed, dropping the towel and running both hands over his face in awkward agony. He caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror and froze, seeing the bright red blush on his cheeks, nose, ears, the sweat still beaded and running down his forehead and hair. That had been hot, yeah, but it was completely the opposite of what Evan had wanted. The complete fucking opposite. Evan groaned and smacked his forehead. Fuck, he fucked up hardcore. There was no way he and Jonathan would be okay now.


	11. Chapter 20 - Two Parts of a Whole

"So, on a scale of one to Arnold Schwarzenegger's resting bitch face, exactly how angry do those guards look?" David's joke made Alexa chuckle as they watched the two guards outside the Fullerton-Sax bank in Santa Monica. They were both heavy set, with large jaws, dark helmets and dark visors, their bodies protected by dark bulletproof vests and little name tags that read their last name and job at the bank on them. From across the street, neither of them could read the text, but that didn't matter. What did matter was that Brock and Craig made it safely through the glass sliding doors of the five story glass and metal building without being shot at.

"Oh, totally Sarah Conner in Terminator Two."

"So that's, like, a seven?"

"Easily an eight David!"

"Why not a nine?" Asked Evan, leaning through the two front seats to peak out the side window at Craig and Brock, who were casually laughing as they went inside.

"Because they're suckers for pretty boys, look," Alexa snickered as the two guards gave Craig and Brock a once-over as they passed by.

The three laughed. Alexa turned back to look at the two boys and bit her lip. "Ready with the timer?"

Evan glanced at the apple watch on his wrist, getting the timer app open on the small screen before looking up and winking. Alexa noticed something on his neck then, a small red welt of some sort. It was pretty fucking visible; it looked recent too. Evan retreated back to the back of the van and shouldered one of the backpacks onto his back as he flipped out his cellphone to call the other team. Alexa caught David's eye, nodded softly at Evan and tilting her head, exposing the neck skin where the welt had been.

David's face went red and he turned away. Alexa almost had to punch him to get his eye again and frowned an alarmed question, but David shook his head violently. No, he hadn't put the hickey there. But it didn't look like she was going to get an answer, since she heard the intercom system switch on and Craig's voice was loud and clear in her ear piece. "Brock is in position. You guys need to get your asses in here."

"On it," from Evan.

Alexa climbed out the back of the van, taking the backpack Evan handed her. It was full with a PM 63 Rak, twenty extra rounds for the Rak and her Beretta's, gas mask, two smoke bombs, her Renegade jacket, and a first aid kit. David remained in the car where he would monitor and track the four of them.

As she followed Evan across the street, she turned back to look at David who was starting up the car. She was worried, and her stomach was tying knots on itself in a way she wasn't quite used to; he guessed what she was feeling and he smiled reassuringly, motioned a deep breath in and an exhale - which she did - and nodded. Alexa jogged after Evan was stepped inside the rotating doors as Brock's voice hit the intercom.

"I'm plugged into the power grid, David you tracking?"

"Nearly got them…" David hummed. Alexa and Evan pushed through the rotating glass doors and into a large lobby with ATM machines and white leather couches. The tiled floor was a shiny beige, and large potted plants took residence in the corners of the glass walls. Alexa squinted, noticing how thick the glass was.

Evan nudged her arm gently, drawing her attention to the fifteen armed guards stationed around the actual banking floor. To their left were maybe seven small, glass business offices, most of them full with either one or two people sitting in white leather seats while behind a broad desk reclined an employee. Outside the offices were low sitting, long ottomans - also in white leather - where more people waited their turns. Each seat was spaced out with a plant between each, creating an invisible aisle between the offices and the seats. To their right, about twenty bank teller stations, thick glass separating the employees from their customers. Each station had long lines of people anxiously waiting their turn. Fake chandeliers hung from the ceiling, dropping down from the third floor ceiling. The very top of the ceiling was dark.

Above the teller stations to the right was a wall of glass windows with more people, men in business suites on phones, bent over tables intently discussing some papers, or running around.

"Got 'em. Whenever you're ready, kids," David grinned through the intercom.

Alexa grabbed Evan's hand and squeezed, getting him to look at her. She smiled reassuringly.

"We got this, Ev."

"I fucking hope so," he swallowed. They made their way lazily towards the far left corner of the floor, where a small cluster of vending machines were. Alexa felt trapped, she wanted to run; she wanted to get this heist over with, fight instead of sneak. But with ten heavy set guards, a watching facility above the teller station, and nearly eighty people stuffed into one room, sneaking was their best option.

Craig was already waiting at the vending machines. He nodded a vague "hello" to Alexa and Evan, pretending to not know them. Alexa leaned against the snack's dispenser and Evan pulled out a few coins for a Coke while Craig moved away slightly and instead went on his phone.

"In position, all three of us," Alexa hissed, looking up again at the observation floor. A suited snake stood in the watching facility. He was busy talking with someone on a phone, back turned to them. He was dressed like a bider.

"Alexa? Cue?" Brock asked, prompting a response.

"Prep, but don't actually hit it until I say so," she instructed, watching snake man growing more concerned. Alexa had been in this program for a while now, and no bider was ever that calm, especially since they could track them as it turned out. They should know their little group was in the building somewhere, so why wasn't snake man watching them, or at least - as she glanced around at the guards - getting the guards to watch them.

"'Lexa?" Craig.

"Something isn't right," she breathed. That was when she got it. Snake man, the same man that cornered Evan and his friends three months ago, turned to face them. When he caught Alexa's eyes, he smiled, waved…and then ran a finger across his throat. He knew they were there; he was calling for reinforcements.

"Now."

And mere seconds after the words left her lips, the bank's power cut out.

"You have SECONDS!" Lui reminded the small group of three as Tyler led Brian and Jonathan through the employee's only door in the smaller, sister Fullerton-Sax bank by UCLA. Tyler held open the heavy, vault-like door for the other two, firing at the guards at the end. Quick exchange of bullets, and the three slammed the door shut.

"I suggest getting your smoke masks and jackets out NOW, because I cannot guarantee containing the sarin gas."

"Damn, Lui, you good for anything?" Jonathan teased, attempting to lighten the mood with a coarse laugh. They were terrified; this bank was not exactly the most heavily staffed by guards, it was protected by a crazy amount of security, security even Lui was having a hard time breaking. The bank itself was small - a short one story bank with a small back room for offices, four bank teller stations, and maybe four ATMs outside the bank itself? However, the underground facility was about three stories down, with a single, large vault. That was the goal.

Tyler covered Brian as he put the finishing touches on a small rig of C4 around the door. Simple, straightforward, with maybe two actual explosives attached to opposite sides of the hallway connected by a thin, low trip wire Tyler could barely make out.

"Trap is secure," Brian muttered, standing up.

"Get in the stairwell before the power comes back online!" Jonathan near screamed, firing a bullet gas dispenser not the ceiling and ripping out the can. Sarin gas cans was something Lui had asked for.

The lights came back on, making the three of them jump. The faint hum of power as electricity surged through the building again sending a shiver up Tyler's spine, and he felt the floor hum gently. It wasn't the actual main grid power, however; Lui had completely cut the bank off from the grid, and they were now running on back up. So the entire hallway was cast in a blood red glow, and a honking siren began to blare along with the first sounds of gas rushing out.

Brian and Tyler darted down the hall towards Jonathan, running as fast as they could. When them reached the door, Jonathan caught them, ripping open their backpacks and pulling out the jackets and gas masks. Tyler and Brian fell into the stair well and slammed the door shut, holding their breath as they pulled both masks and jackets on.

"We can't stay," Jonathan reminded the other two, checking over the railing of the stair well. "And with the entire place flooding with Sarin gas, it's dangerous to be anywhere that is not the vaults right now."

As if to drive home his point, an electronic feminine voice came on over the speakers: "This building is now on lockdown. All personal please stay in the safe rooms to minimize exposure to toxins."

Jonathan threw a plastic bag of talcum powder to Tyler and Brian, putting a fistful on the back of his neck and hands. The two did the same before loading and readying their weapons. Brian glanced up at Jonathan.

"We're gonna make it, aren't we?" He asked, looking from Tyler to Jonathan.

Jonathan bit his lip. The talcum dust in the air and red glow made the whole scene look sinister.

Brian sighed. "I didn't tell Brock I loved him before we left…" his voice caught slightly, but he coughed, clearing his throat and blinked back a tear.

Tyler nodded. He hadn't talked to Craig since the morning after their bar visit, mostly because he had no idea what to say. He couldn't remember kissing Craig, so what could he say that would even remotely fix the damage he'd already done? Tyler still couldn't get Craig out of his head, his cheek stinging vaguely from when the smaller man punched him. It was fucked, but Tyler deserved it. Yet, the thought of not having talked to Craig, not having said at least 'good luck' or 'sorry' before they left, and then thinking they could die…

Jonathan coughed, bringing the other two back into the moment.

"Sorry guys, but we have to move, regret or not."

"Don't you wish you could have said something to Alexa before? Or Evan?" Tyler snapped, challenging Jonathan.

Jonathan looked up at him, and Tyler was a little stunned by how angry he was. He swiveled quickly around and started down the stairs, ignoring Tyler's question completely.

Tyler and Brian nodded solemnly before following Jonathan down the stairs heading towards the third floor. The three men's footsteps were silent on the stairs, and the only noises either heard were from the deep, blaring alarms.

The got to the third floor, and the three stopped, taking in the next problem. The door into the vault room was a sliding door, like one an elevator might have. Thick metal, pretty heavy. In addition, a small box with a glass screen was situated to the left side of the door. It looked like an iPad attached to a metal box, but the imprint of a finger print glowed faintly. Brian swore lightly under his breath, then crouched in front of the door, slinging his bag to the ground pulling out a crowbar.

"Lui? We have a situation," Jonathan started. Silence.

Static filled his ear.

"Lui? You there buddy?"

Just more static.

"Fuck. Out of range," Jonathan mumbled, and turned his head to look at Tyler.

"Without Lui, we're flying blind, aren't we?"

Jonathan nodded. Brian starred up at the two.

"How am I getting into that vault without Lui?" alarm written all over his face.

"I don't know!" Jonathan shouted. Brian frowned in response, holding his gaze before turning away from Jonathan and back to the door. Tyler glanced at the man next to him, registering just how shaken up he was already.

"Everything okay?" he asked gently. Jonathan snapped it away, not looking at him.

"Yeah. Everything is fine."

Then Brian's C4 rig on the top floor went off. The small explosion was enough to make all three of them turn around and look up. Tyler's stomach dropped.

"So judging by that," Brian began, his voice quivering slightly as he calculated. "We have maybe three minutes until we are dead."

"Okay, fuck this," Tyler groaned, moving to Brian's side. He nudged him out of the way, and rubbed his gloved hands together before grabbing the crowbar and rolling his shoulders.

"Don't get an Irishman to do an Indianna boy's work for him," Tyler growled teasingly. With one quick glance at Brian and Jonathan, both ready with a grenade and his PM 63 Rak respectively, Tyler pulled the crowbar towards him. The space created between the door and the doorframe was maybe half a foot wide, but as soon as it appeared gun shots sounded from the room inside. Most hit the door, but same made it through, whizzing past the three of them. Jonathan and Brian stepped to the sides slightly, Jonathan firing rounds while Brian pulled the pin out of the grenade, aiming into the dark room lit up only by the explosions of gunfire from the ends of three guns.

"KOBY!" Brian called as he through the grenade through the crack in the door. Tyler pulled out the crowbar quickly and rolling away, allowing the door to slam shut. Screams of fear, then the explosion from the grenade. It was dull, but still shook the floor.

Silence, as the three stood and listened. On cue, the door at the top of the stair well opened, and the sounds of feet running could be heard.

Jonathan stepped into the center of the stair well, his gun pointed up as he fired, aiming at the guards piling through the door. Brian also jumped to his side, throwing a C4 in a perfect ark up to the first floor, landing noiseless then light up with an explosion that made Jonathan and Brian duck.

Tyler slammed his foot into the thumb-lock to his left, and felt a quick surge of electricity flow through him. He focused on the door next. Tyler managed to pull it open with much more ease now that the door was dead, and after making about a two foot space with the bar, he threw it inside the room, slotting himself through the gap and shouting to the others.

Brian dove in first, while Jonathan backed in, still firing. Once he was through however, Brian threw one more C4 through the gap before Tyler and Jonathan both slammed the door shut again, just in time as the feet of the guards hit the stairs leading to their floor. Brian pressed the activator button and the explosion left the space outside silent. Then Tyler became aware of the sound of air rushing through dispensers in the ceiling.

"Halon gas!" Jonathan explained with a grateful laugh, walking into the center of the room, facing the two. "There's money and tech in here! They won't use water to put out a fire, they'll use gas. Not poisonous, just drives out any oxygen in the room! Lucky for us though," he grinned, pointing to the gas mask covering his face. "We don't need to worry about that!"

Tyler and Brian grinned at each other. The vault room was a low ceiling area, with chainlink fencing sectioning off three areas with a central hallway running between them. On Tyler's right closest to the door was a guards table, small screens numbering maybe twenty in total that would have shown live feeds if the screens weren't cracked and smoldering from the explosion. On the left side's first section was two bunk beds, complete with a mini fridge and a toilet that looked a lot like prison. The left side was filled with pretty much all bunk beds with similar furnishings, while the right center housed ammunition and guns, and the right far back section had two servers each humming busily. At the far end of the vault room was the vault door itself.

"Okay guys," Jonathan spoke up over the rushing gas noise. "Brian, get on that vault. I'll help you with it if you need it. Tyler, can you load up on ammo and copy the files?"

"Got it," Tyler confirmed.

"The vault doesn't look that bad," Brian slowly began, crouching down in front of the vault and look at the mechanism. It was a thick, metal vault, scorched by the explosion, but it's panel, similar to the one outside the room, was bigger with an actual key pad as well. "I think I'll be okay…be ready to step in though, please?" Brian asked, glancing back at Jonathan.

"Of course. Now let's move."

Brian took care of the vault while Tyler and Jonathan looked through the weapons and computer systems there. Jonathan in particular got hold of a not-too-badly-damaged switcher board from the guard station as well as an intact thumb lock from the servers. He also snagged the thumb lock panel Brian took off of the vault lock, stuffing it into his bag for safe keeping. While he copied files onto hard drives Lui had given him, Tyler pocketed all the ammunition for the guns they had. And then he spotted something that made him laugh.

"Hey Brian!" Tyler shouted, picking up the heavy gun with both hands, marveling at the gun's beauty.

"Not now Tyler…" Brian called back, focused totally on vault.

"Okay," Tyler laughed, admiring the weapon. "I'm saving this for you."

Jonathan poked his head around the corner, taking in Tyler and weapon he was talking about before busting out laughing. "That's honestly perfect for him though," Jonathan admitted.

"Can you fucktards shut the fuck up and let me work? I'm almost there!"

"We'll need it to get out of here anyway," Tyler added, making eye contact with Jonathan. Jonathan nodded, remembering what they would have to do.

"YES!"

Brian jumped back as the vault door swung open, slow and automatic with a whir. Tyler and Jonathan joined him in watching the door, leaving the weapon where they'd found it for now. The vault door came to rest with a jolt and the lights inside switched on. The sight took all three of their breaths away. It was a white room, sterile almost, except for the metallic shelves. Shelves upon shelves filled the vault with stacks of paper money, gold bars, and cash boxes filling each shelf. Tyler laughed, amazed by how much money was standing in front of them, and Jonathan and Brian joined him.

"Special delivery," Tyler breathed in awe. "One giant, green, stack of cash!"

Jonathan's watch beeped, making them stop jump and look at the watch. It was the timer; they had ten minutes left. The three made eye contact, each with the same expression on their face: fuck.

Jonathan pushed his backpack into Tyler's hands, saying "pack it up," and went back to the computer servers, while Brian and Tyler jumped into the vault and started piling stacks of cash, gold bars, and cash boxes into their backpacks, armor, clothes, anything and anywhere they could store.

Ten minutes until they had to hit the road, otherwise they would miss the window of protection against police, FBI, SWAT, and Renegades Lui and David had made for both groups. Ten minutes until they were officially, and without question, fucked.


	12. Chapter 21 - End of The Road

To say Brian was happy with his new "toy," which is what Tyler and Jonathan were referring to the M134 Mini gun Tyler had found in the vault, was the biggest understatement made to date. Brian had made the joke of leaving Brock for the mini gun TWICE now, once when it shredded the metal door leading out to the stair well as well as the guards waiting for them outside, and again when they met two SWAT vans and another three police cars waiting for them outside.

Now, Brian straightened up grinning wildly after bolting the mini gun to the floor of the van as they drove towards the Santa-Monica sister bank. The temporary spot for Brian's mini gun allowed him to destroy anything behind them with ease, but it also took up a good half of the back of the van. Jonathan sat up front with Lui, leaning out the side window and shooting at anyone in front. Tyler was protecting Brian while he bolted down his mini gun with one of the three Kel-Tec KSG Patrol guns, silvery blue in color with fifteen spare rounds. He spent several long seconds taking careful aim, then fire, taking out a tire, an exhaust fume, or even a driver with each round. But now, Brian caught his eyes and Tyler backed off while Brian grabbed the handles on the mini gun and grinned.

About three police cars and two swat vans were tailing their small white van, with another two police cars in front. After only five minutes on the road, the boys had managed to get a pretty impressive parade of cars coming after them, sirens blaring and every now and then a voice screamed "PULL OVER!"

As if they would.

"HANG ON UP FRONT!" Brian shouted, loading up the gun, feeling it purr. "IT"S GOING TO BE ONE HELL OF A LOUD BANG!" And pulled the trigger.

The gun ripped into a police car, the hood coming off and the car's engine exploding, the whole car skidding and front flipping over. It landed and skidded after their white van, sparks flying out from the screech of metal against concrete.

Tyler and Brian hooted, the thrill of the large explosion making them giddy, Brian reaching at and high five-ing Tyler. Tyler pushed Brian out of the way with a "my turn, asshole," and grabbing the gun with a maniacal grin on his face.

"GOOMBA," Tyler shouted, taking aim at another police car. "FUCK YOU!"

The car was ripped apart the mini gun's bullets. It's tires blew out, the car skidded and careened into a SWAT van following them, flipping. The police car spun to the side of the road as well.

Before Brian could get hold of the gun again, a round of gun fire shot at the van, making Brian and Tyler duck down. "FUCK OFF!" Brian screeched, not even aiming. The sounds of shattering glass and tires screeching and metal hitting metal was loud, and Brian thought his ears might bleed.

And then the mini gun, Brian's beautiful new toy, ran out of bullets.

Brian pulled the trigger several times, disbelief and rising panic as he took it in. Tyler caught on fast and slammed the back van doors shut, making eye contact with Brian.

Bullets punctured holes through the back doors, and Tyler was winded as another bullet his protected back. He jumped away from the door, pinning himself against the side of the van while Brian used the now dead mini gun as protection.

"CAN YOU GUYS GET THOSE FUCKS OFF OUR FUCKING TAIL?" Jonathan yelled from the front.

"MINI GUN IS DEAD!" Brian called back.

"DAMMIT!" Jonathan's fist impacted the fake leather seat of the van as he turned back to face the road. The car swerved violently as Lui took a right, then picked up speed dodging cars with precision."GET THEM OFF OUR TAIL, NOW!"

"WORKING ON IT!" Brian shouted back.

Brian held out a hand to take one of Tyler's Kel-Tec KSG and loaded up a round. Both Tyler and he knocked out the glass in the windows of the van's backdoors and aimed at the wheels of the closest SWAT car.

"ON MY COUNT!" Brian called to Tyler, the two taking careful aim. "READY…NOW!"

The SWAT van lost control, its front tires blown, and spun sideways broadside across the street. The van tipped and rolled. After several roles, it slid to a stop, trapping the other cars behind it. Brian and Tyler high five-ed, victorious, as the van speed through the fairly empty shopping streets of Santa Monica watching as pedestrians fled for shelter.

"What the fuck do you mean they're still in the fucking bank?"

Brian whipped his head at that. Jonathan's face was dark as he listened to the other person talk. Tyler and Brian waited, breathless. They felt the van slow noticeably.

"David you better not be fucking with me…" Jonathan said menacingly.

Brian swallowed hard. This wasn't good, and the way Jonathan almost punched the end call button on his phone was a bad sign, and even worse when he leaned his elbow on the window edge and sighed.

"Lui, pull into this alley up here."

"What? Why?"

"JUST DO IT!"

Lui swerved, scrapping the van against the side of the stone building and pulled to a stop. Jonathan was already pulling wads of cash out of his suite, and Brian and Tyler did too.

"U-Turn and head towards the safe house. We're going to Fullerton-Sax."

"What's going on?" Brian asked his heart racing.

Jonathan sighed. "That was David. They've been cornered. Turns out the forty-five minute window wasn't secure enough for them. They were spotted before they even got into the fucking back rooms. David can't get close to them."

Brian felt his stomach drop.

"Now get out the van, we're going to get them."

Brian and Tyler wasted no time jumping out the van, Jonathan joining them after a few seconds. Lui and the van speed off after giving them a thumbs up for good luck, taking the alleyway through to the other side and speeding off towards the East. Brian looked at Jonathan.

"So the plan?"

Jonathan bit his lip. "We go in, we grab them, and then we go."

"How? We have next to no guns, no ammunition, and no ride!" Tyler steamed. Brian starred at him, and saw the tears welling up in his eyes. "It was your fucking plan to split up, and now we may end up loosing them!"

"Tyler, chill-"

"NO, FUCK YOU JONATHAN!" He screamed in his face. "YOU AT LEAST GOT TO SAY GOODBYE TO ALEXA, I DIDN'T EVEN SAY I'M SORRY TO CRAIG!" A shudder ran through Tyler as he held back a sob.

"YOU THINK I'M NOT BOTHERED BY THE FACT THAT MY BEST FRIEND COULD DIE IN THERE?" Jonathan screamed back. "I ALMOST LOST HER ONCE, AND I'M NOT PLANNING ON LOOSING HER AGAIN. QUITE BLAMING ME FOR YOUR BOYFRIEND PROBLEMS AND START BLAMING YOURSELF!"

The two glared at each other for a long few seconds before Jonathan had to look away.

"I'm not one to talk about boy problems either…" Jonathan trailed off. "Before we left, I did something I shouldn't have. Now, I may never get a second chance to fix what I - we, did wrong," Jonathan's shuddery breath diffused the situation entirely, and Tyler relaxed.

"Okay…" Tyler breathed. He glanced behind them. "We need something better than our bad mouths and nearly dead guns to get our friends our of there."

Brian remembered something he'd seen, and tugged both of their sleeves, getting them to follow him to the entrance of the alleyway. Two stores down the street was a vaguely Italian themed shop with a pale blue stripped awning shading a low one story building with large windows. Outside of the little shop were parked brightly colored, different brands of motorcycles, in particular, three Suzuki 900s.

Brian grinned at his two companions when their eyes widened in understanding. "I think those will make some pretty great entrances."

Craig's heart was beating loud and hard, sweat dripping off his face, his shirt torn and burnt from the explosions, and his ears ringing. But he was still alive, somehow, leaned up against an overturned vending machine on the main floor, gasping for air. Next to him was Brock, his back pressed against the vending machine as he fired round after round towards the thirty-something Renegades that had arrived only minutes before. Brock's left arm was bleeding, and the rough bandage he'd made out of the shirt of a dead civilian was doing nothing to stop it.

Craig's breath hitched in his throat, and again he heard the echoing boom from the rocket launcher, this time aimed at Evan and Alexa's hiding spot. They were pressed up against a corner created by bank teller desks, Alexa crouched on the floor and Evan stood, but both snuggled against each other in fear, coughing violently as the smoke from the rocket cleared.

Giving them time to recover, Craig turned and leaned over the vending machine, firing his PM 63 Rak and taking out another Renegade with several bullets to his chest. The guy went down, but it was a small dent in the mass.

Brock sucked air in through his teeth. Craig cringed when he saw him; he looked bad.

"Brock you need to stop using that arm," Craig horsed. Brock made eye contact with him and Craig knew it was a lost cause to reason with him.

"I'm not dying in here," he shook his head, taken over by fear.

"We are NOT dying in here," Alexa's voice in the intercom system came out, her voice hoarse from the smoke and screaming. "David sent out a distress call. The others are coming, we just have to keep fighting."

Another rocket launcher hit, this time on the vending machine, sending it scrapping backwards, taking Brock and Craig with it.

"SHIT! YOU OKAY?" Evan screamed, shooting towards the Renegades before looking back at them.

Craig coughed, and Brock moaned in pain. "No…" Craig winced as he felt his own ribs pinch as he moved. He couldn't get hurt now.

The shooting continued as Evan and Alexa covered for the two of them, but Alexa swore, packing her guns into the back of her jeans, and then Evan, who just sighed and rested his head against the back of the wall.

The intercom was filled with heavy panting from all of them. The Renegades figured out what had happened and shouted to move in. This was an execution now.

"I know I put up a big thing of not being afraid to die" Alexa breathed, her voice low and scared. "But truth is…I'm fucking terrified. I'm just…not ready. I can't go out like this."

"I'm not ready either," Brock groaned beside him, adjusting himself gently. "I didn't tell Brian I loved him…I also didn't tell Evan he was my first gay crush."

Evan laughed gently over the intercom. "Funny way to confess your love to me now, isn't it Brock?"

"Just thought you should know," Brock laughed, but moaned as the shaking hurt his arm even more.

Craig sighed. "I didn't fix things with Tyler…I left him without saying goodbye or even LOOKING at him…" Craig sighed, and rubbed his eyes, trying hard not to cry.

"I fucked up with Jonathan…almost literally," Evan's voice was little more than a sigh. "I kissed and almost fucked him this morning."

"Bruh…"

"I think Evan wins biggest fuck up?" Brock teased, his laugh breathy through the intercom. Craig heard footsteps in the glass as Renegades made their way to the vending machine. This was really it.

"Famous last words?" Alexa asked, glancing past the corner and clocking the group of five coming up on her and Evan.

"I'm sorry Jonathan," Evan sighed.

"I love you Brian," Brock whined.

"You are everything to me Tyler," Craig choked.

"You're my best friends," Alexa whimpered.

This was it.

To Craig's left the big windows of the main bank floor shattered, making everyone look up and behind them as a figure on a bright pink motorcycle smashed through the window, sliding on the slippery tiled floor and taking out several shooters before smashing — bike, Renegades, and rider — into the bank teller stations opposite the windows. Another motorcycle, green, crashed through a window, this time further away from Craig and his friends, taking out another line of Renegades.

Finally a third motorcycle crashed in, silky white chipped and scraped, this time in front of Craig and Brock's hiding spot, making them whip around and point their empty weapons at the figure whose helmet obscured their face. The figure held a pump action shot rifle and dropped their leg to stop the bike from falling and shoot three rounds into the rivals. Craig swallowed hard, his heart beating so violently it made his gun shake. But then the figure pulled off their helmet, and Craig's eyes widened.

"Craig…" Tyler allowed the bike to drop to the floor and darted down to the floor in front of him. He cupped his face gently turning it from side to side, before pulling him into a tight hug.

"You're such a fucking idiot," Tyler breathed, not letting go.

"I love you Ty, you're everything to me, I'm so sorry-" Craig rambled, but Tyler pulled away from him and instead pressed a kiss on his lips. Craig's eyes widened as he realized what was happening, and stayed wide when Tyler pulled away.

"But you're my fucking idiot," Tyler finished.

"Okay no offense right now," Brock's strained voice made them look up. "But my arm is bleeding and I want to get the fuck out of here."

Tyler turned to look at Brock's arm, lightly touching the bandage and making him wince in pain. It was bad.

"David, get in here Brock is hurt bad," Tyler spoke into his earpiece.

Tyler glanced up and looked towards Jonathan and Brian. Evan and Alexa were with them, taking ammo and weapons from the rivals. Both of them looked shaken up from the near death experience. Alexa was standing over one Renegade just starring vacantly, and Jonathan brought her into a tight hug that she didn't break away from for nearly a minute. When she did move, she bent down to pick up the rocket launcher with it's respective ammunition, looking up at Jonathan. She said something, but Craig was too far away to make it out.

Brian and Tyler deposited Brock into David's newly stolen orange Subaru Outback — "I ditched it for something a little less fucking conspicuous!" Once they left, Jonathan gathered the remaining six of them together for a quick evaluation.

"Money?"

"Over three million in cash grabbed," Alexa recited, "as well as several hundred gold bars conveniently fitted into our armor."

"Health?"

"Well, no ones dead," Craig began, "but Brock got hurt pretty bad by some shrapnel. And besides some inhalation of smoke or dust, I think we're all okay. No gas problems."

"And now, we run," Jonathan stated.

The plan was simple; the Suzuki bikes could carry two people, and with three bikes and six people, that was enough space for one navigator and one defender. Craig went with Tyler, and Alexa teamed up with Brian, leaving Evan to go with Jonathan. It was pretty funny to watch them awkwardly mounted Jonathan's stolen green bike. They zoomed out onto the street first, Brian and Alexa left next, then Tyler and Craig, the last one in the pack of three.

"Stick together, okay? I don't care who tracks us or what happens, we stick through this together. No more splitting up," Evan's voice rang through the intercom system.

"What happens if I need to stop and breath? 'Cause Alexa is gonna kill me here with her tight grip," Brian joked and the indignant gasp of Alexa came next.

"If you don't watch your mouth I'll do more than crush your lungs?"

"That a promise?"

"I'm carrying an RPG-7 Rocket Launcher, you bet your sweet Irish ass that's a promise."

"Put it to good use, Lexa. Don't just use it as a butt plug," Jonathan answered, and Craig and Tyler laughed. It felt good feeling Tyler's laugh vibrant into his own like that.

"You know what Brian likes more than RPG butt plugs?" Tyler started, and Craig was already laughing before he could finish the punch line: "knowledge?"

The laughter and Suzuki motor roars were deafening. They were almost out of the Santa Monica area, but there were no other Renegades…and that was weird. Craig tightened his grip around Tyler, who jerked his head slightly in response.

"What is it?"

"This isn't right…something is off…" Craig drifted off, craning his neck to scan the area around them. "We had Renegades on our asses within twenty minutes of arriving at the bank, why have no backup teams show up?"

As if on cue, something exploded up front, and all three slammed the on the brakes to avoid running into the massive, army style tank that had just crushed through a small, Italian style motorcycle shop. The lumbering hunk of metal stopped, turning its long nose to face the group of six down the street from it. Then, a voice crackling over a PA system echoed through the empty and evacuated street.

"SOLDIERS! DISMOUNT YOUR VEHICLES AND PUT YOUR HANDS ABOVE YOUR HEADS!"

Silence, then Jonathan chuckled. "Soldiers, huh? They calling us by our crew name?"

"I don't know about you guys, but I feel kind of honored," Evan answered, and Craig could here the scheme formulating in his voice. Craig loaded up his KSG while Evan murmured "Alexa, I hope you put that RPG to good use real soon."

"You don't need to tell me twice. I've been wanting one of these puppies for a LONG time," Alexa's voice sounded like the usual Alexa, and Craig smiled. This was going to be a fight, and it was going to work by their rules.

"THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING! DISMOUNT YOUR VEH-"

"THEY'RE CALLED SUZUKIS, DUMBASS!" Tyler barked. The six laughed.

Silence, and then: "IF YOU DO NOT SURRENDER, WE WILL HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO DECLARE YOU ALL CORRUPT AND LABELED FOR EXTERMINATION."

"Extermination?" Evan scoffed. "Who do they think they are? Pest control?"

"SO YOU'LL DECLARE WAR ON US? IS THAT WHAT YOU'RE THREATENING?" Jonathan shouted.

"CORRECT!"

"GOOD!" came Alexa's voice. "BECAUSE WE'RE ALREADY AT WAR," and with that, Craig watched as she hoisted RPG onto her shoulder, a beautiful metallic silver with burn marks around the nose, and let loose a rocket aimed straight at the nose of the tank. As the rocket left the RPG, Brian lurched his bike to the right and down a side alley, Jonathan following them and Tyler taking off after. The rocket hit, and tank's nose exploded in a shower of fire, smoke, and metal, noise echoing down the alley way after them as well as bullets from Renegades abandoning the tanks or chasing them on foot. No use, not on these bikes anyway. They were built for speed, and the small group of six had already left the scene speeding down the alley, their goal was to head towards Glendale, were they would meet up with Lui and Brock, then head towards the safe house tucked away near Mt. Wilson.

But then Craig screamed in pain.

A bullet had hit him, totally by accident, but of course it was on an unprotected spot, the one spot he thought he wouldn't be hit: his inner thigh. Craig shot upwards, and heard the shouting of Renegades above him on the roof tops.

"Guys they're on the—" Craig stumbled and he felt Tyler tense. "Roof—tops…" Craig slumped against his back, feeling himself loosing consciousness. The shot was meant for Tyler, a shot meant to penetrate him through the top of the skull effectively taking out both of them, but Craig got in instead. It probably hit the vital artery in his thigh.

Tyler was shouting, but Craig didn't understand. The light changed, and he was vaguely aware of them exiting the tunnel with more gunshots behind them, and the sounds of explosions and buildings collapsing as something heavy came charging through. Something hit his back, and he remembered his bulletproof armor, and thanked whoever had given it to him — Alexa maybe?

Craig shook his head violently, only clearing his vision for a second, before darkness took over and the last thing Craig heard before his body shut down, and his mind went blank was Tyler's frightened, sobbing voice as he continued to drive, unable to turn around and help his dying friend.

"Don't you dare fucking die on me, Mini."


End file.
